flailing elbow, a far more devastating backlash than Patrick
Vieira’s leg-swipe into thin air. Reviled by Arsenal for his
lurch away from that kick and ridiculed for his penalty
miss, it was Ruud van Nistelrooy’s predatory, not his
survival, instincts that were on display at the Walkers
Stadium on Saturday.
‘It was a performance of conviction from a man whom the
Gunners have sought since last Sunday to convict as a cheat.
Leicester City’s defenders suffered from a similar problem
to Vieira: Van Nistelrooy was untouchable.
‘“I have no experience of him trying to wind me up and I’ve
played against him three or four times,” Frank Sinclair, the
Leicester defender, said. “I think he’s quite a gentleman
myself but he is a dangerous footballer and people try and
wind him up because you want to stop him scoring goals. We
didn’t do that.”
‘They weren’t even close. With one-third of what would be
his fifth Premiership hat trick completed, Van Nistelrooy
ran over to the away fans, jostled and jabbed by his
teammates this time. The celebration seemed part-parody,
part-release of pent-up frustration that had simmered during
a week in which everybody — everybody but Van Nistelrooy,
that is — had their say.
‘Perhaps directed by his manager, he made a solo trip to the
visitors’ end at the final whistle, pointedly standing
before the Manchester United supporters to give and receive
beatific applause with therapeutic undertones, a group hug
without touch.
‘“I didn’t think what happened against Arsenal would get to
the United players at all. They live in the spotlight
constantly and are under pressure when they play at home or
away and so they are used to it,” John Curtis, the Leicester
right back and a former United player, said. Sir Alex
Ferguson, the United manager, endorsed that view.
‘Only when Diego Forlán came on in the second half and
offered nothing but discursive meanderings was it truly
possible to appreciate the importance of Paul Scholes, the
man he replaced. “With Scholes back, it gives us a new
avenue of goals. He is one of the best passers in the game.
His vision for the first goal was marvellous,” Ferguson
said.
‘“He is a fantastic player and one of the best in the
country, and the way he played it is very difficult to do
anything about him,” was Curtis’s appraisal. “From a
defender’s point of view, you can only try to limit his
space, but even though you know what he does, he is almost
impossible to stop.”
‘While Forlán motors down blind alleys, Scholes, returning
from a hernia injury after a month out, has the football
equivalent of satellite navigation. His chipped diagonal
pass to Roy Keane after a quarter of an hour reached its
destination and the United captain scored his first goal
since April 2002, from close range. A minute later,
Scholes’s mis-hit shot arrowed at Van Nistelrooy, who
controlled it and fired home unchallenged from close range.
‘The fine showing of Darren Fletcher, the 19-year-old making
his first Premiership appearance, was another plus. United
were unconvincing in defence but they were rarely tested,
though Sinclair did snatch a consolation with a firm header,
and Marcus Bent hit the crossbar.’