Copy from
Electronic Telegraph


Sunday 25 January 1998
Issue




External Links

No Pics
Download United Program/Patch files



   [INLINE] Issue 975

          United on a pleasure cruise
          By Derick Allsop 
          
          Man Utd (2) 5 Walsall (0) 1
          
          THE Names may change but it was business as usual for
          Alex Ferguson's charges as Manchester United worked a safe
          passage to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
          
          The favourites and most successful club in the history of the
          competition, however, were subjected to an uncomfortable ride
          before finding cruise control against the Second Division side.
          
          Even an early goal by Andy Cole failed to galvanise United and
          subdue Walsall. Jan Sorensen's team and their 8,000 supporters
          were intent on savouring the experience and their relish was
          captured by the enterprise of their French striker, Roger Boli.
          
          With better support, Boli might have inflicted embarrassment on
          United but a second goal, dispatched by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,
          eased the anxiety of the natives and deflated Walsall. By
          half-time they were perhaps grateful not to be confronting a
          hiding.
          
          Ferguson, endeavouring to steer United to a 10th Cup success
          and a unique treble of League, FA Cup and European Cup, kept
          his pledge to rotate his squad, calling up Phil Neville,
          Henning Berg, Brian McClair and Ben Thornley. A first-half
          injury to Denis Irwin gave Michael Clegg a chance.
          
          United had extended an invitation to Eric Cantona to attend
          this match and although there was no evidence of the exiled
          idol, his one-time team-mate Boli and Jean FranÙois Peron
          ensured a French connection.
          
          Walsall's 35-year-old centre-half and captain, Derek
          Mountfield, held the Cup aloft for Everton in 1984 - only to
          hand it over 12 months later to United.
          
          Boli was not intimidated by the occasion, audaciously running
          at United's defence and unleashing a shot which had Peter
          Schmeichel juggling to recover.
          
          It took United 10 minutes to summon a little order - and the
          opening goal. Thornley played the ball in from the left and for
          a moment it seemed Cole and Solskjaer might confuse each other.
          The former accepted the responsibility, spun and drilled the
          ball into the bottom corner.
          
          Solskjaer almost fashioned a chance for himself as United
          sought to capitalise on their lead. The Norwegian was crowded
          out and gradually Walsall rediscovered their early zest. John
          Hodge's shot from the area was deflected for a corner.
          
          Cole, too, had his eventual effort deflected wide after
          penetrating the Walsall defence with an astonishing burst of
          pace. The striker sensed another opportunity after 37 minutes,
          only to lose possession. Solskjaer recovered the ball and
          calmly extended United's advantage.
          
          Boli hit a post with a stunning shot, Paul Scholes had two
          thunderous efforts saved by Walsall's goalkeeper Jimmy Wales,
          and Cole shaved a post before United stretched into the clear.
          
          Cole claimed a third, after 66 minutes, and two minutes later
          Solskjaer scored his second.
          
          Boli salvaged personal reward, heading in Peron's centre after
          72 minutes but Ronny Johnsen headed a fifth for United two
          minutes later.
          __________________________________________________________
          
          Man Utd (2) 5 Walsall (0) 1
          Cole 10, Solskjaer 39, Cole 65, Solskjaer 69, Johnsen 74; Boli
          72.

          Man Utd: Schmeichel, P. Neville, Irwin (Clegg 24), Johnsen,
          Beckham, Cole, Berg, McClair, Scholes (Mulryne 69), Solskjaer,
          Thornley (Nevland 64). Subs Not Used: G. Neville, Giggs.
          Booked: Solskjaer.

          Walsall: Walker, Evans, Marsh, Viveash, Mountfield, Peron
          (Blake 88), Boli, Porter, Keates, Watson, Hodge. Subs Not Used:
          Naisbett, Roper, Platt, Ricketts.

          Att: 54,669
          Ref: P A Durkin (Portland).
          __________________________________________________________
   
     Arsenal join Man Utd in F.A. Cup fifth round
     
     (Adds quotes, details)
     By Alan Baldwin
     LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Arsenal knocked last season's losing
     finalists Middlesbrough out of the English F.A. Cup on Saturday
     while overwhelming favourites Manchester United crushed second
     division Walsall 5-1.

     Arsenal old boy Paul Merson scored for Middlesbrough but the first
     division side went out 2-1 to the north Londoners, who were in a
     class of their own in the first half but lost their way in the
     second.

     Dutchman Marc Overmars put Arsenal ahead after 90 seconds, a
     nightmare relived for 'Boro who lost the 1997 Wembley final to
     Chelsea when Roberto Di Matteo scored the fastest goal in the
     competition's history after 43 seconds.

     Ray Parlour made it 2-0 in the 19th minute after a wonderful
     counter-attacking move with French forward Nicolas Anelka laying on
     a defence-splitting pass.

     Overmars could have scored a hat-trick in the first half but the
     second brought 'Boro many more chances.

     Merson set the match alight with a 62nd minute strike, sidestepping
     onrushing Austrian goalkeeper Alex Manninger, standing in for the
     injured David Seaman, and then tucking away the shot past two
     defenders.

     Merson sent Danish striker Mikkel Beck through with three minutes
     remaining but his shot was a lame one.

     At the end, Merson -- who spent 13 years at Highbury before his
     surprising move to the Riverside Stadium -- ran to the Arsenal fans
     and threw them his Middlesbrough shirt.

     "The first half was horrible, the second half I enjoyed every bit
     of it," said the former England player.

     Walsall had hopes of pulling off probably the greatest upset in the
     cup's history but, as expected, the chance never materialised
     against a rampant Manchester United who had accounted for holders
     Chelsea 5-3.

     Andy Cole and Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored two each and
     Ronnie Johnsen provided the fifth to give United a cup scoring
     record of 10 goals in two matches.

     French striker Roger Boli, brother of Basile and a friend of former
     United hero Eric Cantona, earned Walsall some respect with a
     powerful header off a 72nd minute corner.

     The match that has captured the public imagination, Newcastle
     United's trip to semi-professional Stevenage, will be played on
     Sunday. In the meantime there were no upsets, although two premier
     league clubs went out.

     Dion Dublin scored Coventry's two goals to dump Derby County out
     and Bruce Dyer scored a hat-trick for Crystal Palace in a 3-0
     defeat of Leicester City, the League Cup holders.

     "There are a couple of times in your career when you're on a high
     and can do nothing wrong. He's never played as well as this," said
     Coventry manager Gordon Strachan of Dublin, who turned down a move
     to Middlesbrough during the week.

     Tottenham Hotspur and Barnsley drew their all premier league tie
     1-1, with England defender Sol Campbell banging in a corner in the
     30th minute. Barnsley captain Neil Redfearn earned a replay with a
     59th minute penalty.

     Palace, with five first choice players out, have not won at home in
     the premier league all season.

     Dyer's goals in the 33rd, 62nd and 66th minutes maintained the
     struggling south London side's good cup form however. "I've had an
     up and down season through injury and it's only now that I'm
     starting to find my form a little bit," he said.

     Birmingham City beat Stockport County 2-1 in an all first division
     clash, with Bryan Hughes scoring twice.

     Stockport had two men sent off but still fought back to equalise in
     the 66th minute through Alun Armstrong. Hughes then struck six
     minutes from time to see City through.

     Premier league Wimbledon beat first division Huddersfield 1-0
     despite losing two men in the first 10 minutes. Robbie Earle went
     off in the second minute with a muscle strain and Ceri Hughes
     followed with a hamstring problem.

     Leeds United beat second division Grimsby Town 2-0, but took 45
     minutes to break the ice.

     UEFA Cup quarter-finalists Aston Villa, in an early afternoon
     match, beat local rivals West Bromwich Albion 4-0 after Simon
     Grayson scored in the fourth minute.

     Villa were without Yugoslav striker Savo Milosevic, transfer-listed
     after spitting at fans last weekend. Dwight Yorke scored twice and
     Stan Collymore hit the fourth.
     
                           © Reuters Limited 1997
          __________________________________________________________

   January 25 1998 FOOTBALL
   
   Cole lights the way as United cruise through 
   
   Chris Lightbown at Old Trafford 
   
   Manchester United 5 Walsall 1 
   
   PERFORMANCES LIKE this make Manchester United seem unbeatable. Not
   because they were brilliant throughout - they were not. They
   flourished in the second half after the creakiest of openings. But,
   even then, they were sitting on a fairly easy 2-0 lead by half-time.
   Their resources and ability to raise their game after a flat period
   are quite stunning.
   
   If there was a realistic chance that Walsall were ever going to do
   anything spectacular, it seemed to have ended in the second minute.
   That was when Roger Boli unleashed a shot of inordinate power from
   around 25 yards at the end of a drifting and apparently somewhat
   aimless run. Peter Schmeichel had some difficulty dealing with the
   shot's height and power.
   
   Thereafter, matters became predictable. The opening goal involved Andy
   Cole collecting, turning and shooting after Ben Thornley had sent over
   a low and routine ball. That, at least, shunted United into gear.
   Their defensive work had begun as cleanly as ever and, goodness knows,
   Cole was lighting up every time he got as much as a sniff of the ball.
   But they were not exactly sweeping through midfield and took time to
   get the ball out to the flanks.
   
   In the moments and gaps which this left, Dean Keates worked really
   hard to get Walsall going. Keates was playing in midfield, just in
   front of the visitor's strident defence. Here he cleared a ball away
   purposefully; there he placed a pass with pinpoint accuracy towards
   Boli or towards Andrew Watson, Walsall's other striker.
   
   Boli was something of a problem. The turns and twists were certainly
   eye-catching, but there was not always much on the end of the
   eye-catching stuff.
   
   After 34 minutes, Boli fell over as Brian McClair started to jockey
   him in the most routine manner. After 14 minutes Boli attempted to
   flick the ball through mid-air towards Jean François Peron in the
   depths of United's penalty area. Cheeky stuff. Stuff that could not
   possibly work against United's fit young defenders, either, and the
   ball went out to touch. Other Boli tricks and flicks met a similar
   fate. But then, after 51 minutes, Boli unleashed another shot even
   more wondrous than the first, which Schmeichel barely saw and which
   did everything but go in.
   
   In any event, United were 2-0 up by now. Another of their somewhat
   laboured moves was apparently going nowhere in particular when David
   Beckham worked the ball in from the right flank. It came to Cole, who
   seemed to dither. Whereupon Ole Gunnar Solskjaer virtually took the
   ball off Cole's feet, swerved just a little, and cracked it into James
   Walker's goal. To their credit, Walsall barely budged. The combination
   of Adrian Viveash and Derek Mountfield was enough to keep Cole and
   Solskjaer at bay for prolonged periods and only when Beckham briefly
   moved into midfield did United start to hum.
   
   However, in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, and for
   intermittent periods thereafter, United turned Walsall's penalty area
   into a pin-cushion. Shots, crosses and runs rained in on Walker's area
   as if United were unleashing the fire they had withheld earlier on. In
   one 60-second period there were three attempts on his goal that
   threatened to tear out the netting.
   
   At the end of one move, Beckham put a foot wrong - something he rarely
   did throughout the second half - and a ferocious shot that had been on
   its way over the goal-line was diverted over the bar instead. But no
   matter.
   
   United's third goal was a stunner. Erik Nevland had just come on and,
   with what was almost his first touch, launched a single-handed
   counter-attack down the left flank. At the finish, he was crowded out
   by weight of numbers. But only just. Cole took the ball on, Nevland
   prodded it back and Cole scored - all in less time than it takes to
   tell.
   
   The fag end of the gold rush would have lit up most games. Solskjaer
   scored at the end of a counter-attack which he had led almost from the
   centre circle. Boli scored with the deftest of headers when little
   seemed possible and Ronny Johnsen headed in directly from a Beckham
   corner.
   
   By the end such masterpieces were reduced almost to details.
   
   Manchester United: Schmeichel, Irwin (Clegg 24min), Berg, Johnsen, P
   Neville, Beckham, McClair, Scholes (Mulryne 69min), Thornley (Nevland
   64min), Solskjaer, Cole. Scorers: Cole 10, 65, Solskjaer 38, 69,
   Johnsen 74.
   
   Walsall: Walker, Evans, Mountfield, Viveash, Marsh, Hodge,
   Keates,Porter, Peron (Blake 88min), Watson, Boli. Scorer: Boli 72.

   Booked: Solskjaer (23min).
   Referee: P Durkin (Portland).
   Attendance: 54,669.
   
   Copyright 1998 The Times Newspapers Limited. 
          __________________________________________________________

WALSALL DEFEND ALL-OUT ATTACK

   By Paul Walker, PA Sport
   
   Alex Ferguson praised Walsall's brave, attacking approach to the FA
   Cup tie at Old Trafford after Manchester United's 5-1 win.
   
   And Walsall chief Jan Sorensen defended his open tactics, saying "Yes
   we could have come here and dug a few ditches on the 18-yard line and
   just kicked the ball away.
   
   "But some of my players may never come to a stadium like this again,
   and the club may have one game like this in 10 years.
   
   "Do we all want to remember the day as one where we just stuck 10 men
   behind the ball and defended?
   
   "We would still probably have lost 5-1.
   
   "But we would rather remember the day as one where we came and
   attacked and created a few chances against the best team in the
   country, probably Europe."
   
   Ferguson said: "It was a fine cup tie. Walsall came with an admirable
   attitude.
   
   "They could have defended with 10 men and made it a poor spectacle.
   
   "But their approach made it an entertaining game.
   
   "What that meant was that they did expose themselves to possibly being
   beaten 5-1, but they gave themselves the chance to make chances and
   score a goal.
   
   "I'm sure they went away happier with their own game and their own
   performance and they enjoyed themselves more, because a few of them
   won't get the chance to play here again."
   
   Ferguson added: "Our first goal was magnificent, and frankly it's that
   bit of extra quality you expect from Premiership players.
   
   "I had no problems with the attitude of my players.
   
   "We made a few changes and I assure everyone that I will make changes
   again for the next round - whoever we play."
   
   © PA Sporting Life


[main] [top scorers] [league results/table] [match reports] [archive]
[gallery] [united faq] [links] [sign my guestbook]

Any comments are welcomed.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Telegraph Group Limited endeavours to ensure that the information is correct but does not accept any liability for error or omission.

Users are permitted to copy some material for their personal use, but may not republish any substantial part of the data either on another website or as part of any commercial service without the prior written permission of Telegraph Group Limited.

Note : At times, reports are taken from Reuters and FA Carling Net.

Today's edition of Electronic Telegraph...