Saturday, September 12, 1998
MANCHESTER UNITED 2-0 COVENTRY CITY
Yorke (21)
Johnsen (48)
Dwight Yorke's talent is lighting up Old Trafford along with that
trademarksmile, and at the end of a week dominated by takeover talk he has
capturedthe votes of those who will continue to worship Manchester United no
matterwho holds all the shares.
The ?12.6million it took to lure him from Aston Villa is aboutone-fiftieth
of the BSkyB bid for control of our biggest club, but to manager Alex
Ferguson and the fans the striking West Indian must seem priceless,
particularly as he is already forging a front-line partnership with Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer that could make all the difference between success and
another failure as they chase the great prize of the European Cup, lastwon
in 1968.United start their Champions League group programme with a big clash
againstBarcelona, another of the giants of the world game, on Wednesday night.
With Yorke adding another dimension to their attacking play, they are in
fine form and good heart. He followed up his double in the demolition of
Charlton in his first home appearance on Wednesday night with a singlein
the defeat of Coventry.
It was the breakthrough after 20 minutes and should have been followedby
many more than the one added by Norwegian defender Ronny Johnsen twominutes
into the second half. But nobody was complaining, because United have
clearly captured something special in this raider with so many stringsto
his bow - pace, skill, control, finishing power. You name it and Yorkehas
most of it.He's good in the air, too, as he demonstrated with his part in the
build-upto his goal.
So as the rain lashed down and those leaving the ground were warned ofbig
traffic delays caused by the huge newly-opened Trafford Centre nearby,they
were still wearing broad smiles, just like their new sunshine boy from
Trinidad and Tobago.
The Independent Supporters Association, strongly opposed to the Rupert
Murdoch takeover, were rumoured to be ready to announce a rival bid
tomorrow, backed by a famous pop star.
Pop star Posh Spice, perhaps. Boyfriend David Beckham wasn't availablefor
comment and was one of the few outside the visiting camp not in thebest of
humour. He was flattened by David Burrows, booked for his sins byreferee
Uriah Rennie after 32 minutes. A long time afterwards, 62 minutes in the
proceedings, he appeared to take retribution and floored the Coventry
defender. It was more than a minute before there was a hold-up in playand
Mr Rennie showed him the yellow card. Twelve minutes from the end he
departed, but that was Ferguson's decision as he withdrew him along with
Ryan Giggs and sent on substitutes Nicky Butt and Jesper Blomquist,clearly
with Wednesday night and Barcelona in mind.
But it wasn't about Beckham's petulance or Murdoch's takeover. It wasabout
Yorke, especially Yorke, and Giggs and Solskjaer and those who aredriving
United back towards their old place at the top. The three, along withPaul
Scholes and with the help of Coventry goalkeeper Magnus Hedman, all hada
part in that opener - Giggs a long ball upfield and in from the left,Yorke
a leap and stylish header down, Solskjaer with direct path to goalblocked a
pass out to Giggs, the long cross beyond the far post, the palm down bythe
stranded Hedman, a knock back across by Scholes and an easy tap-in forYorke.
The second two minutes into the second half followed a Gary Breen blockof a
low Yorke drive, with Scholes hitting the ball towards the net andJohnsen
sticking out a foot to deflect it in. There could have been more - andpoor
Coventry seldom threatened retaliation, a miss by teenage debutant Barry
Quinn, two shots wide and one header wide by Paul Telfer.
Ferguson was delighted: 'That first goal was a great move, quick,exciting,
a tap-in at the end of the day but I've seen tap-ins missed. Dwight didvery
well. I think he's a very good player and I think our supporters are the
best in the country at recognising great players because they've hadplenty
here.He always plays with confidence, with a smile on his face. There'sa
presence there.
'I'm pleased that we're going into the Champions League with confidencehigh
and form good. Ronny Johnsen has an ankle injury but we hope he will beall
right. Hopefully, there won't be any injuries and we'll have a fulldeck to
play with.'United old boy Gordon Strachan, the Coventry manager, blasted his
men:'Wedidn't relish the challenge until it went to 2-0. We were like somebody
going to the dentist's, taking the painkillers and waiting until it wasallover.
'Southampton and ourselves were the surprise teams last year. Ourplayers
thought they had cracked it. Look where we are now. I don't like it.'
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