United fails to put away lawly opposition
By Vic Mills
LONDON (JP): Favorite for its fourth Premiership title in five years, Manchester United failed to take advantage of lowly opposition over the holiday weekend and was forced to come from behind to draw against both Leicester City and Middlesbrough.
United, a defensive shambles in the first-half at Leicester went 2-0 down inside twenty minutes to goals from Steve Walsh and Ian Marshall.
Norwegian international Ole Solskjaer, one of ten Old Trafford players returning from midweek World Cup duty, hauled it back into contention with sharply-taken goals either side of half- time.
Against Middlesbrough 48 hours later, United had to contend with contrasting weather conditions as the sweltering heat of Saturday gave way to torrential rain.
Once again a hesitant United defense surrendered the initiative as Middlesbrough, managed by former Old Trafford favorite Bryan Robson, built a 3-1 first-half lead with goals from Juninho, Emerson and Craig Hignett. Roy Keane had scored earlier for United after some fine-build-up play by Andy Cole.
A mirror of its season, Middlesbrough suffered a double blow before the interval as first Fabrizio Ravanelli limped off with a hamstring injury. Amid the confusion of his departure, Gary Neville hammered home his first ever goal for United.
As he had done at Leicester on Saturday, Ole Solskjaer popped up midway through the second-half to net his 18th goal of the season. Under constant pressure towards the end, Middlesbrough hung on to record a priceless 3-3 draw.
Wet and winless, the 55,000 crowd were left to contemplate the fact that United still need three points from two games to lift the title. In a perfect piece of scripting, the next match is at home to Newcastle United tomorrow.
Newcastle United has not given up on the title as it demonstrated with a crucial 1-0 victory at Arsenal. The game failed to display the assembled talent and degenerated into a niggling, untidy affair with nine booked and Keith Gillespie sent off for a second bookable offense.
Reminiscent of England's World Cup performance against Georgia, neither side possessed the sophistication in midfield to move the ball from the heavies at the back to the marksmen upfront. The winning goal, a header from Robbie Elliot, arrived just before the interval.
Last game
A win for Newcastle at West Ham yesterday and another at Old Trafford tomorrow would leave the Teesiders two points behind going into the last game. The slide rules are out on Merseyside too where a win at Wimbledon tomorrow and a Manchester United defeat the same night would leave Liverpool a point off the top.
SCTV will broadcast live the match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at 2 a.m. West Indonesia Time, Friday.
Second place Liverpool kept up the pressure on the weekend with a 2-1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur. The visitors took a surprise lead through Darren Anderton, but could do little as Liverpool stormed back to take the points with goals from Stan Colymore and Patrik Berger.
In the race for the remaining UEFA Cup place, both Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday fell foul of teams in the relegation zone. Villa went down 3-2 at Middlesbrough where Ravanelli stole the points with a last minute penalty, his 31st goal of the season.
There was even greater embarrassment for Sheffield Wednesday which lost 5-1 at West Ham. Two-goal John Hartson tormented the life out of the visitors defense in the process creating space for Paul Kitson to hit his first hat-trick for the Hammers.
With its mind on Wembley, Chelsea played an uninspired nil all draw against Leeds United. Six bookings in a contest laced with spite further fragmented an eminently forgettable match.
The rest of the weekend program centered on the relegation zone where Nottingham Forest became the first casualty after a 1- 1 home draw with Wimbledon. It was a bad day for the Midlands as Coventry City lost 2-1 at home to Derby County.
Other matches
Elsewhere, Southampton lives to fight another day with goals from Robbie Slater and Matt Le Tissier in its win over Blackburn Rovers, while Sunderland had a surprisingly easy 3-0 victory over Everton.
The first domestic title in Europe was decided on the weekend with AC Monaco taking the point it needed from a 2-2 draw with Caen to win the French first division for a sixth time. Monaco was assured of the championship after nearest rivals Paris St Germain could only draw 2-2 with Bordeaux.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich remains three points clear at the top after it and second place Bayer Leverkusen both drew. In contrasting games, Bayern, two down to city rivals 1860 Munich, drew 3-3 thanks to a goal two minutes from time by Carsten Jancker. Leverkusen missed the chance to close the gap after it slip a two-goal lead at Borussia Moenchengladbach.
With five games remaining in Italy's Series A, Juventus stands four points clear of Parma after a nil-all draw with fourth place Sampdoria on Sunday. Parma strengthened its hold on the runners- up spot after a 2-1 win in Atalanta.
Real Madrid took another step towards the Spanish title with a 3-1 home win over Sporting Gijon. Two goals from Croatian Davor Suker and another from Roberto Carlos set the scene for Saturday's meeting with Barcelona before 115,000 at the Nou Camp Stadium.