Republik Of Mancunia |
- PICTURE: Carrick’s wife has a pop at Keane on Twitter
- LIVE BLOG: Olympiacos vs United
- CONFIRMED LINE-UP: Olympiakos vs United
- Olympiakos vs United – October 23rd 2002
- United vs Olympiakos – October 1st 2002
- United vs Olympiakos – October 23rd 2001
- Olympiakos vs United – October 10th 2001
| PICTURE: Carrick’s wife has a pop at Keane on Twitter Posted: 25 Feb 2014 02:21 PM PST
Following United’s embarrassing defeat against Olympiakos Michael Carrick gave an interview. Roy Keane, who was working as a pundit for ITV, claimed the interview was just like the performance tonight, “flat”. Carrick’s wife took to Twitter to respond to Keane’s claims, before later deleting the tweet. |
| LIVE BLOG: Olympiacos vs United Posted: 25 Feb 2014 11:17 AM PST |
| CONFIRMED LINE-UP: Olympiakos vs United Posted: 25 Feb 2014 10:49 AM PST De Gea, Smalling, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Cleverley, Young, Rooney, RvP. Bench: Lindegaard, Buttner, Fellaini, Giggs, Kagawa, Hernandez, Welbeck |
| Olympiakos vs United – October 23rd 2002 Posted: 25 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST
October 23rd 2002 UEFA report Scholes saves blushes Whirlwind start Chance wasted Double substitution Scholes winner |
| United vs Olympiakos – October 1st 2002 Posted: 25 Feb 2014 03:30 AM PST
October 1st 2002 Manchester United (4-4-1-1): Barthez; G Neville, Ferdinand, Blanc (O’Shea 67), Silvestre; Beckham, Butt, Veron, Giggs (Fortune, 67); Scholes (Forlan 77); Solskjaer. Olympiakos (4-5-1): Eleftheropoulos; Amanatidis (Patsatzoglou 72), Antzas, Anatolakis, Venetidis; Giannakopoulos (Edu Dracena h-t), Karembeu, Ze Elias, Djordjevic; Zetterberg, Oforiquaye (Alexandris 59). The Guardian By comprehensively outplaying Olympiakos, inspired by a renascent Juan Sebastian Veron and Ryan Giggs, United all but guaranteed their qualification for the Champions League’s second phase. Olympiakos arrived in Manchester having never won any of their previous 17 Champions League excursions and, for these sufferers of travel sickness, Old Trafford was always likely to represent another chastening experience. United turned out in their blue away kit after the French referee Gilles Veissiere ruled a red stripe running down the side of the visitors’ black shirts would clash with the usual home tops. The Red Devils’ sharpness in attack may have been blunted by the hamstring injury that forced Ruud van Nistelrooy’s omission but, with Paul Scholes alert in the space directly behind Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, Giggs looking increasingly like his old self and David Beckham as willing as ever on the right, the two-goal lead they nurtured before half-time did not flatter their superiority. Scholes, at long last, is beginning to show the signs that he is finally acclimatising to his more advanced role and it was his intuitive pass that was the catalyst for the first goal. Giggs’s central run had taken him clear of the Olympiakos defence and, though the ball got snarled under his feet as he was challenged by Georgios Amanatidis, the Welshman swiftly regained his balance, angling a low shot past Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos. The rejuvenation of one of their most potent attackers has been a significant feature of United’s gradual return to form and Giggs, with a level of self-belief that was scarcely evident just a couple of weeks ago, would represent a constant menace to their opponents with his direct running and penetration. Earlier in the season, it is a fair assumption that he would never have tried the showboating with Veron that sliced open the right side of the Greeks during one particularly sumptuous attack. The same applies to Veron but this was one of his more aesthetic nights and the goal with which he doubled United’s lead may not be bettered throughout this season’s competition. A crisp one-two with Beckham took out a clutch of static defenders and Veron, showing the type of acceleration that has rarely been seen during his time at Old Trafford, was suddenly clear. Eleftheropoulos made up Veron’s mind with his charge off his goalline but, even so, the delicate pitch-wedge that the Argentinian executed over the Olympiakos goalkeeper into a gaping goal was a moment deserving of the highest acclaim. Just as impressive, Ferguson will have noted that both Veron and Nicky Butt won meaty challenges to establish possession in the first place. One moment of South American impudence was followed by a piece of South American brutalism. Veron’s imperiousness had clearly been noted and, as the opening half wound up, the Brazilian midfielder Ze Elias scythed into him with a studs-up lunge that, had it properly connected, might have eliminated the danger once and for all. The red card flourished by the referee was thoroughly deserved and, with it, any lingering hopes among the Greek camp were extinguished. Midway through the half Giggs scored again, his 18th goal in European competition. This time there was more than an element of good fortune attached. It was clearly the intention of Giggs to cross the ball as he broke clear on the left but the ball flew off his foot at an angle that deceived Eleftheropoulous and went inside the goalkeeper’s near post. All that was left then was for Solskjaer, teed up by Scholes 13 minutes from the end of normal time, to add a final flourish with a typically composed finish from 12 yards. For United, the rest of Group F promises to be a cakewalk. |
| United vs Olympiakos – October 23rd 2001 Posted: 25 Feb 2014 02:30 AM PST
October 23rd 2001 Manchester United (4-4-1-1) : Barthez; G Neville, Blanc, Brown, Irwin; Beckham, Butt (Solskjaer, 71), Veron, Giggs; Scholes; Van Nistelrooy. Olympiakos Piraeus (4-4-2) : Eleftheropoulos; Mavrogenidis (Poursanidis, h-t), Amanatidis, Anatolakis, Kontis; Giannakopoulos (Roberts, 83), Karembeu, Patsatzoglou, Djordjevic; Ofori Quaye; Alexandris (Alvez, 61) The Guardian It took the arrival of the eternal substitute, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, to produce the goal which, in spite of considerable attacking pressure, had eluded United for 79 minutes. This was followed by a couple more from Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy as the stubborn Greek defending that had thwarted Sir Alex Ferguson’s side for most of the game finally disintegrated. With Deportivo and Lille drawing 1-1 in La Coruna Manchester United will go to northern France next week hoping to get a better result against Lille in Lens than Deportivo, the present group leaders, achieve against Olympiakos in Piraeus. As group winners United would stand to avoid the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona in the next phase. For the moment just getting past the first round is enough. Last night Ferguson’s players quelled much of the doubt about their future progress in this season’s competition without quite banishing it altogether. The looseness of much of United’s football, the frequency with which the ball was given away and the familiar gaps in their defence evoked memories of the way mistakes had been punished by Deportivo at Old Trafford six nights earlier. The vision of Pedrag Djordevic, prowling Cruyff-like on the left, threatened to undo the cable stitching in United’s back four and more than once the latest centre-back combination of Laurent Blanc and Wes Brown appeared at odds with itself. That said, Fabien Barthez had very little to do. Olympiakos threatened more in theory than practice. In contrast, and until he was beaten by Solskjaer, the goalkeeping of Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos looked like inflicting another night of frustration at Old Trafford. From the moment when he kept out a sharp downward header from Van Nistelrooy in the seventh minute Eleftheropoulos looked impassable. His crowning moment, moreover, came not with the penalty he saved from Van Nistelrooy three minutes past the hour but 12 minutes later when he somehow managed to touch the free-kick which Juan Sebastian Veron had swung around the wall of defenders on to the inside of a post. The evening was a triumph for the strength, skill and sheer persistence of Van Nistelrooy whose contribution to United’s opening goal, when he forced his way past two defenders to lay the ball into Solskjaer’s path, was far more crucial than the one he scored himself. There was, however, no escaping the fact that the Dutchman became effective only once he had been joined by another striker, Solskjaer. Up to that point the support of Paul Scholes had been sporadic. Manchester United could ill-afford further slip-ups last night after losing at home to Deportivo. It was not long before the balding pate of Djordevic was to be found setting up infiltrating movements in that space between midfield and back four which in Europe, and particularly at Old Trafford, United’s opponents find so inviting. With sharper reactions Alexios Alexandris might have scored twice in the opening 23 minutes. More scares for United followed and their anxiety was not eased when Van Nistelrooy failed to score from a penalty given against Christos Patsatzoglou for handball. Then Solskjaer struck before Veron’s expert way with passes saw Giggs outpace the defence to touch in United’s second after 88 minutes and Van Nistelrooy squeeze in a third in stoppage time. Deportivo La Coruna drew 1-1 with Lille in their Group G match last night to assure the Spanish club’s place in the second group stage. |
| Olympiakos vs United – October 10th 2001 Posted: 25 Feb 2014 01:30 AM PST
October 10th 2001 Olympiakos (4-2-3-1): Eleftheropoulos; Patsatzoglou, Bermudez, Anatolakis, Venetidis; Karembeu, Kostoulas; Giannakopoulos, Zetterberg, Djordevic (Alexandris, 81min); Giovanni. Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Barthez; G Neville, Johnsen, Blanc, Irwin (Silvestre, 89); Keane, Veron (Cole, 80); Beckham, Scholes, Giggs; Van Nistelrooy (Solskjaer, 85). The Guardian After his stoppage-time intervention against Greece on Saturday, this was another example of his impeccable timing, showing why he is just as important for his club as he is for his country with the first goal of a hugely satisfying evening for Ferguson’s team. His goal just after the hour, supplemented by a late finish from the substitute Andy Cole, means United have taken six points from their opening three games of Group G and, with two of their remaining three fixtures at Old Trafford, they will be confident their progress to the next phase will not be through the back door. “Has he lost the plot?” a tabloid wanted to know yesterday and it certainly seemed mildly ludicrous that United’s manager had called into question Beckham’s physical and mental condition at a time when England’s captain must believe that, if he fell into the Manchester ship canal, he would come up with a salmon sticking out his top pocket. Such is the pressure on Beckham’s shoulders there must be moments when he feels he is carrying around a rucksack of bricks but his performances have seldom dipped below excellent, in good times and bad, and Ferguson was probably playing psychological games. Yet again the manager tried out a new formation here, mirroring the 4-2-3-1 system that is so often used by top continental teams, with Beckham, Giggs and Paul Scholes employed behind Ruud van Nistelrooy. Ferguson still seems uncertain about the best way to maximise United’s strengths but this, at least, meant that Roy Keane and Juan Sebastian Veron could offer their defence some much needed re-inforcement. It was clearly Ferguson’s intention to stifle their hosts and frustrate the crowd. United have been to the Ali Sami Yen, the San Siro and Nou Camp but few places are as raucous or intimidating as this stadium, venue for the 2004 Olympics, when it is bulging at the seams with 70,000-odd fanatical Greeks. Yet there were only a couple of times inside a frenetic first half when United’s vulnerability in defence – only Leicester and Middlesbrough have let in more goals in the Premiership – were exposed and both came from set-pieces rather than open play. Fortunately for the visitors Stylianos Giannakopolous, first with a header and then with a volley saved by Fabien Barthez at point-blank range, could not apply the finishing touches to Predrag Djordevic’s expert free-kicks. The big scoreboard here had incorporated Jaap Stam in United’s line-up and, in those hairy moments when the visitors clearly needed some defensive leadership, it was tempting for thoughts to turn to the departed Dutchman. That is not to say United were without a rudder. For long spells they had most of the possession and, had Veron not steered a left-shot wide after being teed up by Giggs, they would have gone into the break with the lead. The start of the second half prompted the first concerted spell of pressure from the visitors, with Keane and Veron beginning to occupy more advanced positions and Giggs offering both width and penetration. The movement of Ferguson’s players was causing more and more problems and midway through the half Beckham showed just why he could not be left out. Elusive as ever, Giggs cut to the byline and his chipped cross caught the Greek defence static. Beckham needed no more invitation, darting in front of Bermudez to stab a shot in with the outside of his right boot. So Ferguson has not lost the plot. Suddenly the Greek defenders were playing like strangers. Giggs had a header brilliantly saved by Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos and Blanc saw one flash narrowly wide. But every time United broke forward they looked capable of scoring and, two minutes after emerging as a substitute for Veron, Cole doubled the lead after 81 minutes, dissecting the Greek defence with clever interplay with Van Nistelrooy before slotting the ball home. |
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