www.red11.org DAILY NEWS
Date: Mon Aug 02 GMT+00:00 1999
Mail: barry@www.red11.org
This Issue:
1. Barca 99.. Part 3 of 5 by Paul Scully
2. CHARITY SHIELD PLAYER RATINGS
3. FULL REPORT WEMBLEY
4. A New Season - Dedicated RED Pics Wanted!
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Daily MANCHESTER UNITED NEWS Monday 2nd August 1999:
Barry Daily Comment:
Great David Beckham shot and then no more.
The same as last year we lose the friendly and go on to win the lot?
Anything is possible both teams played well today and the season will
be long and hard. Enjoy the season which starts next Sunday!
************************
99/2000 fixtures/match reports are at
http://www.red11.org/mufc/992000.htm
Mark Bosnich's Personal Details
http://www.red11.org/mufc/bosnich.htm
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
MANCHESTER UNITED STATS v ALL teams on the Web
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats.htm
Previous News:
BSKYB Takeover news/pics at http://www.red11.org/mufc/bskyb.htm
Brian Kidd Press conference, pic, real audio
http://www.iol.ie/~redcafe/kidd.htm
Peter Schmeichel's last Season at United!
http://www.red11.org/mufc/news/schmeichel.htm
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NEXT MATCHES
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Friendlies:
August 3rd [19.30] Omagh Town, St Julian's Road ground
August 4th [19:45] Wigan Athletic
08-AUG-1999 [16:00] Manchester Utd. vs Everton (FA Premier League, AWAY)
11-AUG-1999 [20:00] Manchester Utd. vs Sheffield W (FA Premier League, HOME)
14-AUG-1999 [15:00] Manchester Utd. vs Leeds U (FA Premier League, HOME)
22-AUG-1999 [16:00] Manchester Utd. vs Arsenal (FA Premier League, AWAY)
UNITED Stats v All teams:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/stats/
ALL FIXTURES at: http://www.red11.org/mufc/fix992000.htm
Subject: First Team Fixtures 1999/2000 [All dates/times subject to change]
Dates of possible cup ties also shown
Date Opposition Score Pos. Attend.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
15/07/99 Melbourne Australia 11.00 pre-season W 2-0 60,000
18/07/99 Sydney Australia 06.00 pre-season W 1-0 78,000
21/07/99 Shanghai Shenhua 12.30 pre-season W 2-0 80,000
24/07/99 Hong Kong South China 08.30 pre-season W 2-0 40,000
1/08/99 Arsenal Wembley Charity Shield L 1-2
3/08/99 Omagh Town friendly in aid of Omagh Bomb Fund 19.30
4/08/99 Wigan Athletic friendly at JJB Stadium. 19.45
8/08/99 Everton away 16.00 Live on Sky
11/08/99 Sheffield Wednesday home PL 20.00
14/08/99 Leeds United home PL 12.00
22/08/99 Arsenal away PL 16.00 Live on Sky
25/08/99 Coventry City away PL 20.00
27/08/99 Monaco - Lazio ESC 19.45
30/08/99 Newcastle United home PL 13.00
11/09/99 Liverpool away PL 11.30 Live on Sky
15/09/99 ? EC
18/09/99 Wimbledon home PL 15.00
22/09/99 ? EC
25/09/99 Southampton home PL 15.00
29/09/99 ? EC
3/10/99 Chelsea away PL 16.00 Live on Sky
*11/10/99 Sir Alex Ferguson's testimonial OT [Cantona + Schmeichel]
13/10/99 ? WC 3
16/10/99 Watford home PL 15.00
20/10/99 ? EC
23/10/99 Tottenham Hotspur away PL 15.00
27/10/99 ? EC
30/10/99 Aston Villa home PL 15.00
3/11/99 ? EC
6/11/99 Leicester City home PL 15.00
20/11/99 Derby County away PL 15.00
24/11/99 ? EC
27/11/99 Sheffield Wednesday away PL 15.00
30/11/99 Tokyo Palmeiras WCC 20.00
1/12/99 ? WC 4
4/12/99 Everton home PL 15.00
8/12/99 ? EC
15/12/99 ? WC 5
18/12/99 West Ham United away PL 15.00
26/12/99 Bradford City home PL 15.00
28/12/99 Sunderland away PL 20.00 Live on Sky
3/01/2000 Middlesborough home PL 20.00
***** 5-14 /01/2000 Brazil WTC ***** [3-4 games]
12/01/2000 ? WC sf i
15/01/2000 Leeds United away PL 15.00
22/01/2000 Arsenal home PL 15.00
26/01/2000 ? WC sf ii
5/02/2000 Coventry City home PL 15.00
12/02/2000 Newcastle United away PL 15.00
26/02/2000 Wimbledon away PL 15.00
27/02/2000 ? Wembley WC f
1/03/2000 ? EC
4/03/2000 Liverpool home PL 15.00
8/03/2000 ? EC
11/03/2000 Derby County home PL 15.00
15/03/2000 ? EC
18/03/2000 Leicester City away PL 15.00
22/03/2000 ? EC
25/03/2000 Bradford City away PL 15.00
1/04/2000 West Ham United home PL 15.00
5/04/2000 ? EC qf i
8/04/2000 Middlesborough away PL 15.00
15/04/2000 Sunderland home PL 15.00
19/04/2000 ? EC qf ii
22/04/2000 Southampton away PL 15.00
24/04/2000 Chelsea home PL 15.00
29/04/2000 West Ham United away PL 15.00
3/05/2000 ? EC sf i
6/05/2000 Tottenham Hotspur home PL 15.00
10/05/2000 ? EC sf ii
14/05/2000 Aston Villa away PL 15.00
24/05/2000 ? EC f
http://www.red11.org/mufc/match.htm
-------------------------------------
THE FANTASTIC TRIPLE WAS WON!!
EC links + Personal diaries here:
http://www.red11.org/mufc/barcelona.htm
We went to Barcelona in a fine day in May
And all our supporters sang loudly & gay
And when it was over and all said and done
We beat Bayern Munich by 2 goals to 1
The first one was Teddy's he out foxed the rest
The second was Solskjear's he's simply the best
We could have had 4 or we could have had 9
But we didn't start playing till injury time
Its the presentation of the European Cup at Nou Camp
Video including sound 57secs 1.5 meg
++++++=========+++++++========+++++++++========++++++++
Click On pic - for latest interviews/pics from OT"
Subject: Barca 99.. Part 3 of 5 by Paul Scully
Part III Wednesday Daytime
Wednesday morning I awoke to more bright sunshine and visitors, as we
were informed that we would have to move to the room next door as
someone else was moving into our room. Still, I didn’t complain as the
room next door had 3 beds, allowing us an extra person that evening. I
also had a bit of a hangover and realised that my promise to go to the
stadium early (where the latest rumour was that 10,000 tickets were
being sold on the day), was going to be broken. I wasn’t too
disappointed as I’ve heard enough Euro Away rumours to know that they
are precisely that and nothing else and so I went out for breakfast
around the corner and tried to decide what to do. Kerry was going to
the Sports Bar to meet Barney and the rest of the gang so I nipped into
the Hard Rock Café to say a quick ‘Hello’ to Barry, Alan, Richard, Bill
and Paul among others. I decided to take Barry’s advice and left rather
quickly to go to the stadium in search of a ticket. The cheapest I had
been offered so far was 200 quid but I only had 170 in my pocket and so
was hoping to get lucky with one for about 150. I got to the ground at
around 1pm and was shocked to see the number of people looking for
tickets. Not only that, they were all outside of my price range.
Thinking that a jib might have to be on the cards, I decided to have a
closer look at the stadium, only to be stopped by the police before I
got within 200 yards. Whether I looked incredibly sincere or whether
they were incredibly stupid, I don’t know, but they believed my story
that I was there to pick up a ticket off one of the players and let me
past the blockade. With a large fence surrounding the stadium in front
of me and some evil looking security on the main entrance, I decided
that I wasn’t going to attempt to get any further just yet and so
picked up a programme and a Manchester Evening News - Barcelona Edition
instead. I left for the Metro in the hope that the ticket prices might
go down nearer kick off time.
I joined everyone else back at the Sports bar and we spent a few
hours milling around, eating, drinking, and for myself, worrying about
not getting in to see the game of my life. I couldn’t really wait to
get on the Metro to the ground quick enough. I just wish that I had a
ticket in my pocket so that I could have relaxed and enjoyed the build
up and atmosphere a little more. We somehow managed to lose Kerry, Ed,
Rob and some others on the way to the stadium and such was the enormity
of reds getting off, I somehow lost Barney and everyone else in my dash
to get away. As I was so desperate to get a ticket though, I didn’t
really want to wait around and so carried on out of the exit.
As I left the metro, I was approached by a guy selling fakes for 30
quid which I turned down as I wanted the real thing, however as I got
nearer to the stadium, the huge build up of people and the lack of
tickets available made me think that maybe I should buy a fake and take
my chances. I ran back, but the guy had gone and it now began to hit me
how difficult it was going to be to get into the stadium. I reached as
close as I could before I found a barricade of police vans and masses
of reds blocking my route. I decided to climb on top of an adjacent
wall to get a good look at the surroundings and decipher a plan of
action. I noticed that a preliminary check was being made on tickets
at a blockade just behind the vans - it was getting late now so I knew
I had to go and get past this first hurdle. As I got there, I stood
aside for a moment and watched the process of checking each ticket. The
police were not being very thorough and they had one copper on either
side with one slightly behind. I waited for a push and dived in the
middle opening my wallet as I went through the middle of the first two
coppers and headed for the central one stood slightly behind. As I
reached him, I closed my wallet to imply that I had already shown my
ticket, then walked straight through without so much as a word, easy I
thought. It wasn’t until I had reached the entry gates in front of the
stadium that I realised the enormity of the task I faced in getting in.
As I stood and watched, I saw reds being dragged away from the
turnstiles and thrown to the floor because they were deemed to have
fakes, even though some insisted they had bought them from the club. I
met some guys who had paid 300 quid each for what turned out to be
fakes and I met Mancs, like myself, many of whom had been going to Old
Trafford regularly since they were kids, but who could simply not get
tickets. Everyone was pleading their case to anyone who would listen
and this was of course generating a lot of tension outside the stadium.
The total disorganisation, as is found at most European Aways, was
becoming increasingly evident. I knew there was absolutely no chance
that I would get through the gates as it was obvious that the police
were extremely alert. I withdrew to a grassy mound behind and
considered my options. I either went back to the Sports bar now and
watched it on TV or made an effort to get in. There was no choice
really, this was the opportunity of a lifetime and so I dragged myself
up and told myself I had to try, even if I had to wait to the very last
minute and scale the fence. I went back and cheered as one red
attempted this only to be captured on the other side - so much for my
plan I thought. As a van came toward the fence, the police opened up a
huge gate to let it through, which gave many people, myself included,
the idea of storming it if they opened it again. I walked up and stood
at the gate as they put a steel chain back around it. There was a lot
of Mancs around and I sensed that something was going to happen sooner
or later as people were looking at one another and waiting for the cops
to go away. It wasn’t until about ten minutes later that I heard a
shout of ‘Lets go United’ go up just in front of me. Before I could
move, I looked up to see the huge fence gate being pulled back and
forth by about 20-30 reds. Within seconds, it flew up open and I took
my chance along with about 100+ other reds who managed to get through
before the police stormed over and secured it once more. A few who
reached the inner turnstiles first, ran straight in and seemed to
disappear into the stadium, however the police reacted quickly,
blocking off the route to the inner turnstiles and taking their baton
to anyone seen running. The fact that I wore shorts and was running
whilst holding my wallet and camera in my pockets never helped my cause
and so I stopped and waited for the furore to die down, after all I
thought I was in now. It wasn’t until I walked up to an entrance and
noticed that they had a steward on every door scanning bar codes on
tickets that disappointment hit yet again. Just, how many bloody times
do I have to get into this stadium I thought. Not only this but there
was an extra steward stood behind every three or so turnstiles just in
case anyone did attempt to run it. I looked at my watch, it was 8.15pm,
giving me half an hour to find a way to get in. If I didn’t, I knew the
police would want to know how I had got this far. I gathered with
around 10 others and we attempted to rush one of the gates. This was a
complete failure as there just wasn’t enough room for more than two
people to get inside the turnstile and so I retreated and considered
some options on my own. The police were walking around the inner ground
area watching peoples movements and so I knew it was important to keep
on the move and not look as though I didn’t have a ticket. Several
times I had to pretend to use a mobile phone to look as if I was doing
something, whilst really I was looking for a way in. With ten minutes
to go to Kick Off and desperation kicking in, I was finally given the
lifeline I was looking for. Somebody passed a ticket back through a
hole in the fence in an attempt to get his mate to use the same ticket.
None of us could believe it as it was scanned for a second time and he
was actually let through. The word soon spread and reds were scrambling
outside asking people to pass tickets back through for them, promising
them that they would return them as soon as they got inside. I asked
many people who turned me down, which I can understand to a point as
they probably didn’t have the nerve to roll up a ticket and pass it
back through a fence, but at the time all I could think was that this
was the European Cup Final and these bastards wouldn’t help a fellow
red in. One of the stewards recognised what was happening and called
the police over. Everyone quickly retreated, though the copper
obviously said he was busy at the outer turnstiles and could do nothing
here. It was just approaching Kick Off time when a guy in front of me
got someone to pass a ticket back through for him. He told me not to go
away and promised me he would sort me out when he got inside. I never
knew this guy or ever saw him again but I will be forever grateful for
what he did. He could have run straight into the stadium where the game
was now kicking off, but instead he chose to wait around until a
suitable time when no-one was looking, at which point he passed a match
ticket into my hand for the first time. I took a deep breath and joined
another queue. I handed the ticket over apprehensively and waited for
what seemed an eternity while it was scanned. The steward looked at me,
then handed the ticket back and let me through. My heart leapt with joy
and relief. I looked around for my saviour, but he had vanished as
quickly as he had appeared leaving me with a 40 pound ticket in my hand
as well. I ran as fast as I could into the first entrance I found, just
in case anybody changed their mind about letting me in. As I reached
the top step, I stood and gasped at the awe inspiring view of a
capacity Nou Camp, my hands still shaking as I came to terms with
actually being inside. The view was nothing more than excellent, half
way up the second tier at ground level. There was a large congregation
around the entrances, mostly people who got in for nothing, so I just
forced myself onto the end of a row and was half stood on top of a
chair, bunched up like the old days of the Stretford End.
Part 4/5 tomorrow!
P.SCULLY 1999 No copying without permission
===
Paul Scully (on-site BT Labs, Martlesham)
Logica UK, 75 Hampstead Road, London
email: scullyp@logica.com
Click On pic - for latest interviews/pics from OT"
Subject: CHARITY SHIELD PLAYER RATINGS
By David Anderson, PA Sport
ARSENAL
Alex Manninger: Flapped at a couple of crosses before he produced a good
save to deny Andy Cole. 6
Lee Dixon: Solid display from the Gunners' stand-in captain. 6
Nigel Winterburn: Had a busy afternoon, but fared reasonably well. 6
Patrick Vieira: Had a relatively quiet game, although he did bring the
Arsenal faithful to their feet with one mazy run in the second half. 6
Martin Keown: Stupidly got involved with Nicky Butt and was lucky to escape
with just a booking after he pushed the United midfielder. 6
Fredrik Ljungberg: Troubled United with his pace even though he was playing
out of position up front. 7
Ray Parlour: Hit the post with a great effort before he netted Arsenal's
winner with a precise finish. 8
Silvinho: One or two flashes from the Brazilian, who like several other of
the Arsenal players had been deployed out of position. 6
Emmanuel Petit: Another all-action display from the French midfielder
without having any real impact. 6
Gilles Grimandi: Played centre-half and lost his man on a couple of
occasions. 5
Kanu: The livewire Nigerian fully deserved his goal before he laid on the
second for Parlour. 8
Substitutions: Luis Boa Morte (for Silvinho, 65 minutes): Willing runner up
front for Arsenal, although with little end product. 6; Oleg Luzhny (for
Parlour, 89 minutes): The Ukrainian's main contribution to the match was to
waste a few seconds at the end when he came on. 5
MAN UTD
Mark Bosnich: Looked at home back in United's goal and could do little to
keep out Kanu's penalty. 6
Phil Neville: Capable replacement at right-back for his injured brother,
Gary. 6
Denis Irwin: United's stand-in skipper made one terrific saving tackle
before he fouled Vieira to give away the penalty. 6
Jaap Stam: The world's most expensive defender had relatively little to do
before he was replaced by David May at half-time. 6
Henning Berg: His lack of pace was evident on a couple of occasions. 5
Paul Scholes: Made up for Roy Keane's absence with a tough-tackling display
in United's midfield. 6
Nicky Butt: Fortunate to remain on the pitch after he aimed a boot at
Keown's face, while he also made a late challenge on the Arsenal defender
in the second half. 5
David Beckham: The England star's crossing was up to his usual high
standard and his free-kick for United's goal was stunning. 8
Jordi Cruyff: The Dutchman was too much of a peripheral figure and
squandered his chance to shine in Ryan Giggs' absence. 5
Andy Cole: One decent effort, which was saved by Manninger, but looked out
of sorts. 6
Dwight Yorke: Thought he had scored only for television replays to show
Beckham's free-kick had crossed the line before his intervention. 6
Substitutions: David May (for Stam, 46 minutes): Looked too pedestrian at
times at the heart of the United defence. 5; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (for
Cruyff, 61 minutes): Produced a great ball to release Cole only for the
striker's shot to be saved by Manninger. 6; Teddy Sheringham (for Butt, 81
minutes): Unfortunately for United, the England striker could not repeat
his supersub role from the FA Cup and Champions League Finals. 5
Referee: Graham Barber: Booked five players in a seven-minute spell in the
first half and kept control of this sometimes heated clash. 7
Click On pic - for latest interviews/pics from OT"
Subject: FULL REPORT WEMBLEY
ARSENAL RETAIN CHARITY SHIELD
90 mins: The final whistle goes and Arsenal retain the Charity Shield.
90 mins: Beckham's free-kick is wide of the right post.
89 mins: Oleg Luzhny replaces Parlour.
87 mins: Kanu's shot is gathered cleanly by Bosnich.
84 mins: Petit's free-kick is headed over by Grimandi.
81 mins: Teddy Sheringham enters the fray.
77 mins: GOAL PARLOUR - Kanu sends Parlour clear and he fires inside the
right post.
74 mins: Beckham is given a final warning after his free-kick is deflected
for a corner.
72 mins: Manninger makes a fine one-handed save to deny Cole.
71 mins: Yorke has a clear run at goal but he screws his shot wide of the
right post.
67 mins: GOAL KANU - Kanu rolls his penalty into the left-hand corner after
the spot-kick is awarded for Irwin's tug on Vieira.
66 mins: Parlour's shot from the right strikes the right-hand post and
Kanu's follow-up is blocked.
64 mins: Luis Boa Morte replaces Silvinho.
60 mins: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaces Jordi.
56 mins: Beckham's cross is well cleared by Grimandi.
54 mins: Kanu finds a little space in the area but his shot is off-target.
52 mins: United force two corners in quick succession but Arsenal deal with
the danger.
49 mins: Vieira makes a surging run at goal but then goes to ground looking
for a penalty.
47 mins: Grimandi makes a fine saving tackle to stop Yorke having a clear
run at goal.
46 mins: David May replaces Jaap Stam for the start of the second-half.
45 mins: The half-time whistle goes and United hold the lead at the interval.
45 mins: Parlour's cross is headed wide of the right post by Ljungberg.
44 mins: Jordi's 20-yard shot is over the top.
41 mins: Ljungberg beats Henning Berg for pace but his shot, from a narrow
angle, only finds the side-netting.
39 mins: A neat chip from Ljungberg finds Parlour at the back post but the
midfielder makes a complete hash of his intended volley.
35 mins: GOAL BECKHAM - a 30-yard free-kick from Beckham strikes the
underneath of the crossbar and crosses the line, Yorke follows up with a
header to clear any doubt but the goal is awarded to the England man.
32 mins: Mark Bosnich comes out of his area to clear Kanu's pass ahead of
Vieira.
30 mins: Manninger races from his goal to meet Beckham's pass ahead of Cole.
28 mins: Jordi Cruyff is booked for a foul on Parlour.
26 mins: Cole's drive is pushed away by Manninger.
24 mins: United have appeals for a penalty rejected and a melee ensues
which sees Martin Keown and Nicky Butt, the two protagonists involved, plus
Patrick Vieira are booked.
22 mins: Dwight Yorke's header on goal is blocked by Andy Cole and Arsenal
scramble clear.
21 mins: David Beckham is booked for dissent.
19 mins: Arsenal force their fourth corner which is fired across the
six-yard box, Parlour then produces another teasing cross but Frederik
Ljungberg can't apply the decisive touch.
16 mins: Lee Dixon makes a marauding run down the right but Denis Irwin
makes a vital interception.
11 mins: Both sides commit a number of free-kicks in a scrappy period of
play.
7 mins: Alex Manninger flaps at David Beckham's free-kick but Martin Keown
hacks to safety.
4 mins: United earn their first corner but the Gunners deal with the danger.
2 mins: United only half-clear the corner and Silvinho's fierce shot is
deflected just over the crossbar.
1 min: Arsenal kick-off attacking the Tunnel End and Ray Parlour forces an
early corner.
FULL REPORT
Arsenal 2 Manchester United 1
Arsenal came from a goal behind to triumph in the Charity Shield clash and
strike an early psychological blow aaginst arch rivals Manchester United.
Victory for the Gunners had seemed an unlikely prospect when United ace
David Beckham had given Arsenal a reminder of Gazza '91 by striking a
savage free kick from 35 yards to bring red-hot Wembley to the boil
Beckham, one of three United players booked in the first half as a Sunday
afternoon stroll turned into a confrontation of occasional spite, hammered
his explosive set-piece against the underside of the bar in the 36th minute.
The ball appeared to bounce down over the line and when it came back into
play Dwight Yorke made sure by forcing it past goalkeeper Alex Manninger,
who must have felt as miserable as David Seaman eight years ago when Paul
Gascoigne struck from similar range in the FA Cup semi-final when Spurs
beat Arsenal 3-1.
Both sides had key personnel missing for the season's traditional
curtain-raiser, but Wembley was packed for this early confrontation of the
super powers of English football.
And these two old enemies just could not help themselves going for each
other's throats when the heat was on. And there was plenty of heat inside
Wembley, despite a brief rainstorm early in the first half.
Arsenal's famously resilient defence lacked skipper Tony Adams and England
goalkeeper Seaman.
And Seaman's deputy, Manninger was covered by two other keepers on the
bench - veteran John Lukic and teenager Stuart Taylor.
Up front there was an enormous burden on Nwankwo Kanu, with not only the
lack of AWOL striker Nicolas Anelka but with Dutch pair Dennis Bergkamp and
Marc Overmars also missing.
Denis Irwin, last seen lifting the European Cup last May, retained the
United captaincy in place of injured Roy Keane.
Ryan Giggs and Ronny Johnsen were other notable injury absentees but
manager Sir Alex Ferguson was able to pair last year's 52-goal combination
of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke up front.
Arsenal started the brighter and forced a corner in the first minute and it
almost led to a goal.
Emmanuel Petit's flag kick was flicked on in front of the near post by Kanu
and only scrambled half-clear by United's defence to Silvinho, the Gunners'
new £4 million Brazilian whose volley was deflected over the bar with Mark
Bosnich looking beaten.
But when United began to settle and earned a free kick on the right after
Gilles Grimandi obstructed Cole, Martin Keown had to come to Manninger's
rescue when the keeper failed to deal with Beckham's curving delivery.
There was a sign of things to come when United's Phil Neville brought down
Silvinho and Fredrik Ljungberg in quick succession.
Kanu was also tightly marked but his nimble touches maintained Arsenal as a
going concern up front. He started a 19th minute move which ended with
Grimandi's header being carried over the line for a corner by Bosnich after
Lee Dixon crossed from the right.
And Bosnich was in no man's land when Silvinho's corner flashed low across
the six-yard box, Ljungberg just failing to get a touch. Petit returned the
ball into the goalmouth but again the Swede failed to connect with the goal
gaping at him.
United were stung into action and Beckham's run forced a corner although it
was delayed when he was booked by referee Graham Barber for what seemed to
be dissent. He clearly felt he had been impeded by Petit.
Beckham kept his concentration though, and his corner was arrowed straight
to Cole who was desperately unlucky to see his goalbound header hit Yorke
on the back and bounce to safety.
Another Beckham corner led to another scramble in the Arsenal area - and
two more bookings. Butt went down as though pole-axed by Petit and was
angrily hauled to his feet by Keown. The United midfielder appeared to lash
out with both feet and the referee booked both protagonists.
The freak cloudburst which soaked the stadium for six minutes appeared to
have done little to cool tempers. Jordi Cruyff was the next in the book for
a late challenge on Ray Parlour. Then Arsenal's Patrick Vieira was also
shown the yellow card for a push.
In the 28th minute Manninger saved Arsenal with a full length dive to keep
out Cole's shot after he had been up by Beckham.
But the keeper was left gasping by Beckham's rocket free kick eight minutes
later. Arsenal tried to repair the damage before the interval and Ljungberg
sprinted through onto Kanu's pass only to be forced wide before screwing
his shot into the side-netting.
HT: Arsenal 0 Manchester United 1
United put on David May as substitute for centre back Jaap Stam at the
start of the second half but the first crisis was at the other end when
Grimandi had to produce a magnificent recovery tackle to prevent Yorke
breaking clean through.
The ball squirted clear only as far as Cole who declined the opportunity to
shoot first time and the chance was lost.
Within two minutes Vieira breasted the ball down from Petit's pass and
burst into the United box, going down under May's challenge but referee
Barber was unimpressed.
Cole failed to make anything of a clear opening when Neville's ball found
him on the edge of the box looking suspiciously offside but allowed to go on.
Arsenal were relieved to clear the danger but then a handling offence by
Parlour gave Beckham a free-kick chance in the 52nd minute from slightly
less distance than his first-half strike but it cannoned off the Arsenal
defensive wall for a corner.
Arsenal's instant reply came from Vieira who found Kanu inside the box but
after making space for the shot the big Nigerian scuffed it wide.
United replaced Cruyff with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after an hour and Arsenal
sent on Luis Boa Morte for Silvinho four minutes later.
Within two minutes the Gunners had equalised with a Kanu penalty. Vieira
took the ball on his chest, turned in the box and as he held off Irwin with
an outstretched arm the Irishman appeared to pull him down by the back of
his shirt.
Referee Barber had no hesitation about pointing to the spot and Kanu calmly
slotted past Bosnich.
Arsenal were clearly buoyed by the equaliser but United hit back with a
fierce effort from Cole on 72 minutes, which brought a fine save from Alex
Manninger.
However it was destined to be Arsenal's day and on 77 minutes Kanu showed
great vision before releasing Ray Parlour with a deft little touch.
The midfielder mad no mistake this time as he coolly fired the ball past
Bosnich to the obvious delight of the massed Arsenal fans.
The Old Trafford outfit could not respond and despite a last gasp effort
from David Beckham - succumbed to the inevitable.
It was United's first defeat of 1999 but it is a certainty they will
prepared to suffer it if they can collect more significant silverware in
the new campaign.
Teams
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Winterburn, Vieira, Keown, Ljungberg, Parlour
(Luzhny 89), Silvinho (Boa Morte 65), Petit,Grimandi, Kanu.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Wreh, Malz, Lukic, Vernazza.
Booked: Vieira, Keown.
Goals: Kanu 67 pen, Parlour 77.
Man Utd: Bosnich, Neville, Irwin, Berg, Stam (May 45), Beckham, Butt
(Sheringham 81), Cole, Cruyff (Solskjaer 61), Scholes,Yorke.
Subs Not Used: Wilson, Curtis, Greening, Culkin.
Booked: Beckham, Butt, Cruyff.
Goals: Beckham 36.
Att: 70,185
Ref: G Barber (Pyrford).
Click On pic - for latest interviews/pics from OT"
Subject: A New Season - Dedicated RED Pics Wanted!
I am starting a pics url called "Dedicated REDS"
To kick off if you ever thought I may not be dedicated
see this pic to kick off!
http://www.red11.org/mufc/images/reds/dedicated_red.jpg
Please send your unusual Dedicated Pics to
barrylee@post3.tele.dk
DO NOT WORRY you can go incognito I
there will be no writing or dedications Just Pictures!
I will do the rest!
Barry
THREE pics running already go to ....
http://www.red11.org/mufc/dedicated.htm
Click On pic - for latest interviews/pics from OT"
Pic Link today is http://www.red11.org/mufc/sound/99/
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If ever they are playing in your town
You must get to that football ground
Take a lesson come to see
Football taught by Matt Busby
Manchester, Manchester United
A bunch of bouncing Busby Babes
They deserve to be knighted
Barry
J. Leeming Digest Prgram
by 
William
McArthur Canada
