VIEWS FROM THE PRESS BOX

Last updated : 06 November 2002 By Editor

David Beckham put a weekend of trauma behind him to fire Manchester United to victory here and propel his team into the fourth round. Beckham has proved many times that beneath the pretty boy exterior beats a strong heart and behind the model face a defiant mind.

With other established stars such as Fabien Barthez, Juan Veron and Paul Scholes rested, Beckham could have taken the night off had he pleased. But his stubbornness is as important an asset as his right boot and his appearance showed that little, not even events as disturbing as the weekend's, will put him off his game.

He almost gave his side the dream start when he cut the Leicester defence in two after 45 seconds to put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer through on goal, but Andy Impey denied the Norwegian with a last-gasp tackle.

Forlan twice went close soon after half-time but Ferguson's eagerness to win the tie was shown when he withdrew Phil Neville from midfield with half an hour remaining and threw on Paul Scholes, who gave United's attack the spark it had been lacking.

Leicester wasted a great chance to take the lead with 18 minutes remaining when Paul Dickov's shot was superbly palmed away by Roy Carroll. United won the tie with 11 minutes remaining, however, when Impey pushed Solskjaer after a Beckham cross, forcing the referee to award a penalty. The United skipper brushed himself off to score.

A second followed when Solskjaer's cross found the substitute Kieran Richardson who headed home from five yards for his first United goal.