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Thursday 19 March 1998
Issue 1028


Trezeguet's strike puts dream beyond reach of depleted United
By Henry Winter


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   Manchester Utd (0) 1 Monaco (1) 1 (Agg: 1-1)
   
   THE dream is on hold for another season. The thirty years of
   hurt continues. Manchester United's desire to regain the European Cup,
   which they held in 1968, foundered last night on French resilience,
   which compounded their own selection problems.
   
   United worked desperately hard but, missing Gary Pallister's
   commanding defensive presence, Ryan Giggs's attacking flair and the
   dominance of goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, the champions of England
   bowed out of the European Cup a stage earlier than last year.
   
   Monaco progressed through on the away goal, brilliantly scored by
   David Trezeguet, who may lead the French line in the World Cup. Ole
   Gunnar Solskjaer's second-half reply precipitated a thrilling finish
   but Monaco proved too disciplined, too determined.
   
   United were not the only ones counting the cost of this night of deep
   disapointment. Gary Neville and Paul Scholes both failed to finish the
   match and are now doubtful for England's friendly international in
   Switzerland next week.
   
   This was always going to be a test of character, the pressure
   increased when Giggs suffered a reaction to his hamstring after
   Tuesday's workouts. In attempting to find balance and potency in
   midfield, Ferguson drafted in Solskjaer on the left, pushed Scholes
   out to the right and set David Beckham and Nicky Butt to work in the
   middle.
   
   Monaco, brimming with confidence, took one look and began cutting
   through with pass after pass, the accuracy of each delivery leaving
   United's midfielders chasing shadows.
   
   Lacking a cutting edge at home, Monaco looked so much more dangerous
   here with the hard-working target figure of Trezeguet to aim at.
   Scarcely five minutes had elapsed when Trezeguet scored, Monaco's goal
   owing much to United mistakes. A tackle from Ronny Johnsen saw the
   ball spin away in front of the Norwegian.
   
   With Johnsen caught out of position and Gary Neville scrambling to
   cover, Ali Benarbia swiftly swept the ball through to Trezeguet,
   quickly capitalising on the chaos in United's defence. The French
   international's response was of the highest order, a rising drive
   arrowing past goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw.
   
   Not even Schmeichel would have saved this bolt from the white and
   blue, which was clocked doing 96mph on ITV's speed camera
   
   Monaco's movement was proving too clever, too elusive for United's
   young team. John Collins's passing, the ball pinging off his left
   foot, continually impressed, as did the Scot's enthusiasm for tracking
   Beckham in particular.
   
   Alongside Collins was Djibril Diawara, a Dakar-born midfielder
   deployed to break up the supply lines. This pair provided a central
   bulwark United kept crashing into.
   
   Even when Ferguson's side did find a way through, and their best hope
   came down the flanks, Monaco's sweeper-strengthened defence proved too
   complicated to untangle. As at Stade Louis II, Teddy Sheringham and
   Andy Cole were closely marked by Martin Djetou and Muhamed Kon- jic.
   
   United's strikers attempted to escape these dogged defenders but found
   space and hope hard to come by as the game unfolded.
   
   Chances did materialise. Beckham curled in a fine cross which
   Solskjaer just failed to make contact with. Beckham shot over and then
   saw a free-kick bend just wide of Fabien Barthez's right-hand upright.
   
   United's most promising moment came when Sheringham, set up by
   Scholes, flicked play on. The ball's passage was stopped by Djetou's
   hand, causing United and their supporters to scream for a penalty.
   Helmut Krug, the German referee, ignored their pleas.
   
   Nothing seemed to be going United's way. Just after the half-hour,
   Gary Neville limped off, having damaged a rib. Also doubtful for
   England's trip to Switzerland is Scholes, who departed at half-time
   having aggravated his knee problem.
   
   Monaco provided further problems. Strong defensively, commanding in
   midfield, Jean Tigana's well-organised side counter-attacked in style.
   Victor Ikpeba should have scored, directing his header too close to
   van der Gouw, a real waste of Benarbia's magnificent angled cross.
   
   United, to their credit, kept trying, kept striving for parity. The
   crowd, who seemingly save their passion for these European nights,
   willed their team forward. Hope gradually grew. Solskjaer missed
   poorly from Butt's cross as the half closed but a United goal was not
   far away.
   
   Eight minutes after the break, United had the goal their persistence,
   if not invention, deserved. A stirring run from Butt was crudely
   stopped by Franck Dumas.
   
   A penalty appeared inevitable but Krug let the move develop. From the
   wreckage of Dumas's foul, the ball was played back in by Beckham and
   there as Solskjaer finishing brilliantly at the far post.
   
   United kept attacking, aware that Trezeguet's away goal still hung
   over them. Such was their commitment to forward surges that gaps
   appeared at the back and van der Gouw showed great athleticism in
   tipping over Collins's chip.
   
   Still United charged into Monaco. After 72 minutes Phil Neville played
   the ball back to Beckham, whose cross fell for Solskjaer. Three Monaco
   players, defending desperately, threw themselves in the way to block
   and still the danger persisted. Thierry Henry could have finished
   United off 10 minutes from time but van der Gouw diverted the danger.
   _________________________________________________________________
   
   Man Utd (0) 1 AS Monaco (1) 1
   Solskjaer 53; Trezeguet 6.

   Man Utd: Van Der Gouw, G. Neville (Berg 32), Irwin, Johnsen, Beckham,
   Butt, Cole, Sheringham, P. Neville, Scholes (Clegg 46), Solskjaer.
   Subs Not Used: Pilkington, May, McClair, Thornley, Curtis. Booked:
   Butt, Solskjaer.

   AS Monaco: Barthez, Djetou, Dumas, Diawara, Collins, Benarbia (Carnot
   66), Trezeguet, Leonard, Sagnol, Konjic (Da Costa 74), Ikpeba Nosa
   (Henry 60). Subs Not Used: Porato, Pignol, Spehar, Cristanval. Booked:
   Collins, Da Costa.

   Agg (1-1)
   Att: 53,683
   Ref: Helmut Krug (Germany).

   Real Madrid (0) 3 Bayer Leverkusen (0) 0
   Agg (4-1)
   Borussia Dortmund (0) 1 Bayern Munich (0) 0
   After Extra Time
   AT 90 mins 0-0
   Agg (1-0) After Extra Time
   Dinamo Kiev (0) 1 Juventus (1) 4
   Agg (2-5)
   _________________________________________________________________

   March 19 1998 FOOTBALL
   
   Solskjaer's goal not enough as fluent French champions reach European
   Cup semi-finals
   
   Monaco shatter United's dream
   
   BY OLIVER HOLT FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT
   
   Manchester United 1 AS Monaco 1
   
   IT WAS supposed to be their year, the year when they and their
   manager, Alex Ferguson, finally acted out the script that had been
   written for them and brought the European Cup back to Old Trafford. In
   the winter, Manchester United had stoked those hopes with performances
   that showed that they could match the best on the Continent, but last
   night against AS Monaco, drained of that fluency and disfigured by
   injury, the dream ebbed away for another season.
   
   As two other giants of European football, Juventus and Real Madrid,
   marched emphatically through to the semi-finals, United were unable to
   drag themselves out of the miserable form that has afflicted them
   almost since the turn of the year. They had wasted their best on the
   Champions' League and peaked at the wrong time. They had nothing left
   for the European Cup.
   
   After all the expectation and the misguided suggestion that, of all
   the quarter-finalists, Monaco were an easy touch, the defeat seemed
   particularly hard to bear for the legions of United supporters who had
   swarmed into the stadium confident that their team could secure the
   victory they needed to take them beyond the French champions.
   
   However, after being outplayed by Arsenal on Saturday, a defeat that
   suddenly brought their hitherto unchallenged dominance of the FA
   Carling Premiership into doubt, they were outclassed again last night.
   Their task now will be to lift themselves for a title race that they
   had consigned to the second rung in their ladder of priorities.
   
   Made to look ordinary by the polished Monegasques, who pulled them
   from pillar to post in the first half, they were left with an uphill
   struggle when David Trezeguet put the visitors ahead with a rasping
   drive in the fifth minute. It was the crucial away goal that United
   had not managed to eke out in the principality a fortnight ago.
   
   Although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer equalised early in the second half and
   United recovered some of their poise, they could not raise their game
   sufficiently to take them beyond their visitors. For the second night
   running, an English team had been eliminated from European competition
   on away goals.
   
   The size of United's task had become evident before the start, when
   the team-sheet revealed no place for Peter Schmeichel, their
   talismanic goalkeeper, or Ryan Giggs, the flying winger whom Ferguson
   had hoped against hope would make an early return from his hamstring
   injury.
   
   Van der Gouw did not let his team-mates down, but his first action was
   to pick the ball out of the net as the howling stadium was made quiet.
   Monaco had scored with their first attack and Ferguson admitted
   afterwards that he knew his side would struggle if they got off to a
   bad start.
   
   After Johnsen had been dragged out of position by lunging into a
   tackle, the ball broke to Benarbia, far more creative than he had been
   in Monaco, and he slipped a quick pass to Trezeguet, the gangly
   forward who had missed the first leg. Trezeguet ran on to the pass and
   lashed it right-footed past Van der Gouw into the roof of the net.
   
   For 25 minutes, Monaco bemused United with their guile and their
   speed. It was bewildering to see the English champions so apparently
   out of their depth. Ikpeba should have increased their lead after 18
   minutes, when he ran on to a cross from Benarbia, but he could only
   head the bouncing ball straight into the arms of the United
   goalkeeper.
   
   United were sent reeling from another blow after 32 minutes, when Gary
   Neville, their stand-in captain, was forced off with a recurrence of
   the rib injury that he sustained against Arsenal. Unbeknown to the
   supporters, Paul Scholes was also suffering from a knee injury. He
   would not reappear after half-time.
   
   The frustration felt by Ferguson and his players increased just before
   the interval, when they were denied what appeared to be a clear
   penalty for handball after Sheringham's cross was blocked by the
   upraised arm of Djetou. By that time, though, just as in the
   semi-final, second leg last season against Borussia Dortmund, it was
   becoming clear that it would not be United's night.
   
   Seven minutes after half-time, they were given a glimpse of salvation
   by an equaliser from Solskjaer. Butt ran on to a weak defensive
   clearance and surged into the box. He was brought down by Dumas, but,
   just as the referee was about to point to the spot, Beckham swept a
   cross to the back post and the Norway forward volleyed it past
   Barthez.
   
   United nearly went ahead three minutes afterwards, when Clegg had a
   fierce drive tipped over by Barthez, but Monaco took the sting out of
   United's renewed optimism with a series of dangerous counter-attacks.
   Van der Gouw denied Henry, first blocking his shot and then gratefully
   clasping his attempted cross.
   
   Solskjaer had one clear chance 18 minutes from the end, when he
   appeared at the back post again to meet another cross from Beckham.
   This time, though, it took him too long to bring the ball under
   control and his shot was blocked by a last-ditch tackle. It was
   United's last chance.
   
   MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): R van der Gouw - P Neville, G Neville (sub:
   H Berg, 32min), R Johnsen, D Irwin - P Scholes (sub: M Clegg, 46), N
   Butt, D Beckham, O G Solskjaer - A Cole, E Sheringham.
   
   AS MONACO (5-3-2): F Barthez - W Sagnol, M Djetou, F Dumas, M Konjic
   (sub: F da Costa, 74), P Leonard - D Diawara, A Benarbia (sub: S
   Carnot, 66), J Collins - V Ikpeba (sub: T Henry, 60), D Trezeguet.
   
   Referee: H Krug (Germany).

   Copyright 1998 Times Newspapers Limited. 
   _______________________________________________________________________

   March 19 1998 FOOTBALL
   
   Rob Hughes laments the fatal lack of enterprise shown in the first leg
   
   Ferguson exits with regrets

   Spring is coming, but the European nights will be completely barren
   for Great Britain unless Chelsea can qualify this evening for the
   semi-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup. If they do, the message will be
   writ even larger than at Villa Park on Tuesday and at Old Trafford
   last night . . . that unless you have the wit and courage to claim an
   away goal, not even the great fighting spirit of the British game can
   retrieve the situation.
   
   So, depleted as Alex Ferguson was entitled to say that Manchester
   United were, they drifted out of the European Cup without even losing.
   The instant that David Trezeguet struck his early goal last night,
   with such consummate venom from the right foot, United were forced to
   chase the game and to lament their unwillingness to gamble in Monte
   Carlo.
   
   AS Monaco, we keep hearing, have a fine team, but no explosive
   finisher: maybe, up to the fifth minute last night, United believed
   that myth. Trezeguet, tall, two-footed and brave, is just 20 years of
   age and looks to have the material to refute that suggestion.
   
   He may go no further in this competition, for now Monaco are up
   against the likes of Juventus, who, thanks to three goals from Filippo
   Inzaghi in Kiev, are semi-finalists once again. Real Madrid, having
   scored in the away leg against Bayer Leverkusen, swatted aside the
   Germans 3-0 in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. Borussia Dortmund
   complete the final four after knocking out Bayern Munich, their great
   Bundesliga rivals, in extra time.
   
   To be sure, United carried too many wounds yesterday. To start without
   Schmeichel, without Pallister, without Keane and, as John Collins, the
   tigerish Monaco midfield player, admitted, above all, without the
   invention of Ryan Giggs, is too much of a load.
   
   How galling for Ferguson, who felt that he was closer than ever to the
   big trophy that has eluded him, to see a fellow Scot run the midfield.
   How exasperating for David Beckham, United's outstanding performer in
   heart, mind and perceptive talent, to be forced to work like a Trojan
   in midfield, covering for others, for absentees, and all too rarely
   released to give United wit and intelligence on the right.
   
   Inevitably, it was Beckham who offered Solskjaer the opportunity to
   poach the equaliser last night. It was a livid Ferguson who saw, just
   before half-time, a blatant handball by Djetou, which cut out an
   attempt by Sheringham at an overhead centre, and should have been a
   penalty.
   
   But, in truth, Djetou was the master of Sheringham, the proof that the
   Londoner may wear the mantle of Eric Cantona, but, in the final
   analysis, cannot conjure something out of nothing, the way that
   Cantona did even when United's sometimes gauche young team tired, as
   they did last night.
   
   Like Aston Villa before them, they showed the virtues of English
   football by threatening, for 20 minutes in the second half, to overrun
   the techniques and the almost arrogant control that Monaco had held
   earlier on the game.
   
   Djetou cannot be described as the biggest athlete to bestride Old
   Trafford, not in a season when Jonah Lomu, the 17st New Zealand All
   Black, has trampled that turf, but what a defender, what a limpet he
   proved to be in denying Sheringham the room to create. Djetou had told
   Jean Tigana, his coach - indeed, told the people of France -
   beforehand that he would not allow Sheringham to breathe life and
   intelligence into United. The ease with which he accomplished that
   task bodes ill for England, if Sheringham is to be the springboard
   between midfield and attack at the World Cup.
   
   "Had I been able to pick a more representative side, we would have
   beaten them right enough," Ferguson insisted defiantly. He and his
   team must now convert that defiance, as they surely can, to proving
   themselves the best team in the FA Carling Premiership.
   
   Where they erred in Europe was on that false mission to Monaco: they
   had satisfied themselves with denial, reckoned without Monaco's proven
   away goalscoring form. And, crucially, they had played with a slack
   tempo, not appreciating that eight Monaco players already had yellow
   cards.
   
   Two of them, Collins and Leonard, received a second one last night
   when the pressure was high. They miss the first leg of the semi-final
   and, had United dared, it could so easily have been the second leg of
   the quarter-final.
   
   "All or nothing!" Wilf McGuinness, the former United manager, had said
   in a greeting to Paddy Crerand before the kick-off. United gave their
   all, and finished with nothing.

   Copyright 1998 Times Newspapers Limited. 


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