NO LUCK FOR RANGERS
Rangers 0 Manchester United 1 (P. Neville 4)
Attendance 48,730
Rangers went under to an early Phil Neville goal in
tonight’s Champions’ League clash with Manchester
United at Ibrox – but whilst the result was foretold
by many, there was nothing but praise and appreciation
of the contribution made by the Scottish Champions to
the match.
The ‘Battle of Britain’ clash between the two biggest
clubs in the United Kingdom fully lived up to its’
billing with an incredible atmosphere from 48,730
spectators with Rangers making one change from the
side who had played at Motherwell on Sunday with Paulo
Vanoli replacing Emerson. United were at full
strength.
Swedish Referee Anders Frisk had officiated at Ibrox
on just the one previous occasion – the 0-1 defeat at
the hands of Ajax in the 1996-97 Champions’ League
campaign, but also at Rangers’ 1-0 win in Eindhoven in
1999-2000.
Rangers started well, but suffered a catastrophic loss
of the crucial opening goal in four minutes when Phil
Neville was allowed to advance unchallenged towards
the danger area, Craig Moore failing to halt his
progress, and a low drive finding the corner of the
net.
It was a disastrous start for the Ibrox men against
the most deadly of opponents, yet within ten minutes
they were denied two strong penalty claims when
firstly Gary Neville fouled Peter Lovenkrands, then
Roy Keane upended Paulo Vanoli.
Rangers were certainly making a game of it – a Peter
Lovenkrands header from a Michael Ball cross in
eighteen minutes only just clearing the crossbar, yet
the impression even this early was that the Scottish
Champions were giving their English counterparts far
too much respect, and allowing them too much time and
space.
Lovenkrands was creating the most danger for Rangers –
a left-foot drive from a Mikel Arteta pass in 24
minutes being held by Tim Howard, then three minutes
later his header from Arteta’s corner was cleared off
the line by Phil Neville. In the ensuing scramble the
ball broke to Vanoli who should have done much better
than slice his shot wide.
Vanoli again had a scoring opportunity in 34 minutes
when a Fernando Ricksen cross was headed down by
Michael Mols, but again his shot was off target,
although on this occasion the chance was no more than
fleeting.
Rangers were now attacking consistently – and three
minutes later Shota Arveladze tested Tim Howard with a
ferocious thirty-yard drive that the American touched
over the crossbar.
United – for all the home pressure – still had far too
much space, always looking comfortable on the ball,
and indeed they almost finished the half as they had
begun it when a Ryan Giggs corner found the head of
Michael Silvestre whose effort was cleared off the
line by Arteta.
United dominated the early stages of the second-half,
with Roy Keane testing Stefan Klos with a twenty-yard
drive that the goalkeeper beat out in 54 minutes.
Sixty seconds later however the scores were almost
level when Moore’s header from an Arteta corner was
cleared off the line by Phil Neville, and immediately
afterwards Lovenkrands was clean through on a Mols
pass only to see Rio Ferdinand deflect his shot wide
of the target. The Dane was again to the fore from
Vanoli’s corner, his header being held by Howard.
The pressure was incessant, even if the visitors
always appeared to be comfortable – Ricksen being
crowded out when he almost forced his way through in
63 minutes.
The first substitution of the night three minutes
later saw Christian Nerlinger replacing Paulo Vanoli.
Ruud Van Nistelrooy was an ever-present danger, even
though he was being well policed by Henning Berg, and
he tested Klos with an angled drive from a Paul
Scholes opening in 69 minutes.
Rangers’ greatest threat was the pace of Lovenkrands,
as demonstrated with ten minutes remaining when he cut
inside from a Henning Berg pass before firing in a low
drive that scraped the outside of the post.
With the minutes ticking away the Light Blues made one
last effort, a Nerlinger drive being beaten out by
Howard but the United defence remained solid until the
final whistle, which signalled Rangers’ first home
European defeat in four years.
Manager Alex McLeish assessed the game:
“I thought we were unlucky – we made five / six
chances. It was a travesty to go behind after such a
good start. It was a brave and committed performance.
We’ll do our best at Old Trafford.”
Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted to leave Ibrox with a
win:
“It was a great game of football and a terrific
atmosphere. Rangers have good footballers who gave
their all. They have balance, and kept possession very
well. I always enjoy coming back to Glasgow,
especially when you win.”
RANGERS Klos; Ricksen, Moore, Berg, Ball; Lovenkrands,
Khizanishvili (Ross 85), Arteta, Vanoli (Nerlinger
66); Mols, Arveladze
UNUSED SUBS McGregor, Emerson, Ostenstad, Capucho,
Hughes
MANCHESTER UNITED Howard; G. Neville, Ferdinand,
Silvestre, O’Shea; P. Neville (Butt 85), Keane,
Scholes, Fortune (Djemba Djemba 90); Van Nistelrooy,
Giggs
UNUSED SUBS Forlan, Carroll, Ronaldo, Bellion,
Fletcher
REFEREE Anders Frisk (Sweden)