VIEW FROM THE SHEETS

Last updated : 23 October 2003 By Editor
Guardian:

‘First the match was decided and then it was contested.
Rangers fell behind to a Phil Neville goal almost
immediately and then crammed the night with energy that
might have brought an equaliser even if there was a lack of
structure to the work.

‘United are of a higher calbre and were quite prepared to
dedicate much of the match to keeping Rangers at bay, but
they did not achieve the clean sheet serenely. The Scottish
champions, for instance, were repeatedly permitted clear
headers at corners and Sir Alex Ferguson will have to
eliminate the flaws if his side are to challenge vibrantly
for the Champions League.

‘United were prepared for the tidal waves of energy. When
Ferguson brought the Aberdeen team here in the 80s he would
tell his players to take throw-ins quickly as a sign of
confidence. The same sort of attitude produced fast fouls
last night, with an immediate booking for John O'Shea and a
rough challenge by Roy Keane, but there was also a goal.’

Telegraph:

‘This was almost too cold an evening to break sweat and
Manchester United scarcely had to against a limited Rangers
at ice-station Ibrox last night. Although never quite in
stroll mode, the champions of England were tactically and
technically too good for Scotland's finest.

‘Phil Neville's early strike did not reflect the extent of
United's dominance in inflicting Rangers' first European
home defeat in four years. Sir Alex Ferguson will have
enjoyed this return to his old stamping ground while Alex
McLeish found his modest resources too stretched.

‘United had been sitting so extraordinarily pretty in the
first half because Rangers, inexplicably, had no one sitting
in front of their hesitant back four. No shield, no sentry
to resist the strong surges through the middle from a
delighted United.

‘Rangers were punished for failing to staff, let alone
stiffen, central midfield against a side like United who
counter-attack through midfield with pace and numbers. Mikel
Arteta has many gifts but Rangers cried out for a combative
anchorman in the distinctive mould of Roy Keane, the Celtic
sympathiser who revelled in this contest and the caustic
chants spilling down from the Copland Road end. Assisted by
Phil Neville, Keane ran the first half, dominating the
central rectangle, protecting his defence and supporting
Ryan Giggs and Van Nistelrooy.

‘As the game unfolded, with the initiative immediately
seized by Keane and Neville, it was clear that McLeish was
being outwitted by Ferguson, the apprentice given a painful
lesson by the sorcerer. On a cold night by the Clyde,
Ferguson had been welcomed with the frostiest of receptions
by those who used to watch him here; no matter, Ferguson
will have smiled to himself, as the boos came his way. He
had prepared well, upsetting Rangers impassioned following
by setting the champions of England up so cleverly and
abrasively.’

Times:

‘In the end this was neither England against Scotland nor
sorcerer against apprentice but merely, in Champions League
terms, a contest between men and boys. Inspired by Ryan
Giggs and driven on relentlessly by Roy Keane, Manchester
United rose above the hostile Ibrox atmosphere to record a
victory that, for all the various subtexts, did nothing so
much as reaffirm Sir Alex Ferguson’s team as contenders to
win the competition and expose Rangers as the novices they
are at this level.

‘Alex McLeish, the Rangers manager, described the result as
a travesty, pointing to the “five or six chances” that his
side created, but, in reality, Ferguson, his mentor, won
this battle of wits with something to spare. From the fifth
minute, when a rare but extremely well-taken goal by Phil
Neville gave them the lead, United were in control of their
destiny, something that now also applies to their position
in group E. Rangers will travel to Old Trafford for the
return match on November 4 needing to avoid defeat if they
are not to see the champions of England vanishing into the
distance.

‘Ultimately, the occasion might just have failed to live up
to expectations last night, with Rangers not quite able to
match the fervour that their supporters generated, but that
was largely down to United’s success in dictating the pace
of the game. For long periods Rangers were kept at arm’s
length, a feat that few visiting teams — even in the
Champions League — will manage. Rather than a question of
talent, the experience of Giggs, Keane and the Neville
brothers, players with almost 300 appearances in this
competition between them, was the most telling factor.

‘For Ferguson it was a richly enjoyable evening. He said
that 1-0 was “a dodgy result”, but his platitudes towards
Rangers did scant justice towards his own team’s efforts and
indeed his own tactical triumph over McLeish. He said that
the home side had “huffed and puffed” during the first half
and had threatened intermittently in the second, but United,
who dominated for long periods, were rarely less than
comfortable. Though it would be wrong to say that there was
a huge gulf in class, United, by winning the midfield
battle, earned the right to play the superior football.

‘There was, of course, the additional satisfaction for
Ferguson of making a winning return to Ibrox, a stadium
that, though barely half a mile from where he was raised,
evokes more fond memories than bad for the archetypal local
lad made good.

‘Any delusions that he may have had about a warm welcome had
gone long before he was driven through those familiar Govan
streets. The hostility with which United were greeted as
they stepped off the bus surpassed anything they experienced
at Elland Road four days earlier, with most of the bile
reserved for Keane, a Celtic sympathiser, and Ferguson.

‘Inside the ground the animosity went far beyond the heckles
and catcalls to which they had been subjected by Leeds
United supporters, but less than five minutes had passed
when the cacophony subsided into silence. Neville, one of
several United players who would get “nowhere near the
Rangers team”, according to a radio phone-in caller the
previous evening, capitalised on a poor header from Craig
Moore before forcing his way through challenges from Henning
Berg and Fernando Ricksen and deceiving Stefan Klos with a
shot that appeared to roll into the far corner in slow
motion. It was only the eighth goal of a one-club career
comprising more than 320 appearances.’

Indie:

‘The reinvention of Phil Neville, which is proving as
startling as that of Britney Spears, acquired a glamorous
new dimension last night. Unlike Britney, this did not
involve snogging Madonna but waltzing through the Rangers
defence to inflict on the Scottish champions their first
home defeat by English opposition in more than 40 years.

‘Neville's shift from being the fall guy at full-back to an
integral part of Manchester United's midfield has gone
largely unnoticed but the story is now headline material.
His fifth-minute goal, only his eighth in 322 games for
United, put United in the frame for the Champions' League
knock-out rounds and gave Sir Alex Ferguson a victorious
return to Ibrox.

‘Given the pedigree of the teams - they had won eight
domestic championships each in the last 11 seasons - the tie
was otherwise disappointing. A curious hybrid of old-
fashioned cup-tie and modern European encounter, it was a
poor advertisement for the British game. United's emotional
and tactical discipline in the hothouse atmosphere augured
well for their campaign prospects but neither side impressed
in attack.

‘As ever on such occasions, the visiting team will have left
the dressing-room with instructions to hush the crowd.
United did as ordered, taking the lead in their first
attack. A poor headed clearance by Craig Moore fell to Phil
Neville, who exchanged passes with Ruud van Nistelrooy then
ran at a retreating defence. With Mikel Arteta and Moore
standing off him Neville rode Fernando Ricksen's weak tackle
and squeezed a soft shot inside the far post. Ibrox was well
and truly hushed.

‘Neville began in front of his brother on the right flank,
Ferguson pairing Quinton Fortune with Roy Keane in central
midfield. Paul Scholes had licence to roam from the left
flank. This gave United an advantage in central midfield as
Rangers opted for width, pushing Peter Lovenkrands and Paolo
Vanoli forward on the flanks.

‘The early goal deflated Rangers and it was not until the
second quarter of the game that they tested Tim Howard in
the United goal. The home crowd had become frustrated,
jeering their players' many mistakes. To their credit
Rangers did not hide. Seeking comfort from a formidable home
record - only Valencia had previously won here in six years
of European football - they pressed forward.

‘With the match slipping away Rangers launched a final
assault. As ever, Lovenkrands was the spearhead, switching
wings to fly past Gary Neville but shoot, again, just wide.
Into injury-time the Dane again tricked and sprinted his way
through the wall of red. At last he hit the target, but
Howard, at full strength, put a hand on the ball to
suffocate Rangers' hopes.’