ROVERS 1

MAN UTD 1

Pictures: CLIVE LAWRENCE

FORGET Amir Khan's amazing exploits in the ring at the Athens Olympics.

When it comes to taking on the world single-handedly, I'd rather be in Brad Friedel's corner every day of the week.

For ninety-three and a half incredible minutes on Saturday afternoon, the United States number one was simply invincible.

Blackburn Rovers were under siege and the bullets were flying from every conceivable angle.

Alan Smith, Louis Saha, Paul Scholes and Ronaldo all took separate turns at pulling the trigger but Friedel stood tall and deflected the enemy fire with a series of jaw-dropping saves.

Then cruelly, and controversially, Friedel's and Rovers' stubborn resistance was finally broken in the most agonising circumstances imaginable.

The big American had just pulled off his seventh gravity-defying stop of a pulsating contest when the fourth official emerged from the technical area to indicate there would be four minutes of injury time.

As groans of disbelief lapped around Ewood, you sensed what was about to happen next.

In the last minute of stoppage time, Alan Wiley, the referee, awarded a dubious free kick against Dwight Yorke which Scholes then floated goal-wards, the ball struck Saha on the arm in the box and Smith belted it past Friedel to save his side's blushes.

On balance, you've got to say United deserved it but the timing and manner of it left Rovers sick to the stomach.

Conspiracy theories filled the air in the aftermath.

The Rovers bench claimed Mr Wiley had clearly signalled there was to be three minutes of stoppage time but the fourth official then changed it to four under pressure from Sir Alex Ferguson.

Whether or not a manager can directly influence a match official to that extent is open to debate.

But what can't be disputed is there was a clear handball in the build up to United's equaliser and three different officials failed to spot it.

Not surprisingly, Graeme Souness was livid.

After last week's penalty shenanigans at Southampton, Souness has seen his side robbed of three points in the space of a week.

But somehow he's got to take the positives from a game where Rovers came within seconds of beating United for a third successive season.

"If I don't believe that luck evens itself out then I wouldn't be in this business. I've got to believe

that we will get a break at some point," said Souness.

"We've had two quarter-to-one kick-offs in the last seven days and the last minute of each game has cost us dearly.

"As the television clearly shows, it was a handball by Louis Saha but right now we're just not getting the rub of the green."

Despite the bitter deep sense of injustice, there were plenty of pluses to come from a gritty performance against opponents with genuine aspirations of winning the title.

For starters, there was far more balance to the side than had been evidence in the previous three games.

Dominic Matteo looked more comfortable in a defensive role and Morten Gamst Pedersen's presence on the left at least gave Rovers greater options going forward.

In truth, the Norwegian - who looks like a member of the boy-band 'Busted' - had a quiet debut but it was always a big ask to expect him to stand out in this company given the speed of his move from Tromso.

Nevertheless, the 23-year-old could have snatched all three points for Rovers had he shown a little more composure when a golden chance came his way with 15 minutes left but he fluffed his lines.

On the opposite flank, Brett Emerton seized the chance to impress after entering the fray as a replacement for the desperately unfortunate David Thompson.

The Australian international might be infuriating at times but he's the one player in this Rovers squad who has a genuine turn of his pace and his ability to run at defenders caused United problems.

Emerton is clearly a player who thrives on confidence and at times in his Rovers career, he's looked devoid of that.

But when he's on his game, he is a threat and an outlet and the man most likely to get behind opposition defences.

Barry Ferguson is also starting to recapture the kind of form he was showing before he got injured last season.

For 45 minutes on Saturday, the Scotland international was comfortably the best player on the pitch and he barely wasted a pass in midfield.

It was only when Lorenzo Amoruso got sent off in the 70th minute that United seized control in the centre of the park.

Rovers suffered an early blow when Thompson's latest comeback attempt was cruelly cut short inside the opening 17 minutes, which meant Souness was forced into an early tactical reshuffle but within seconds of Emerton's arrival, Rovers found themselves in front.

Pedersen's long throw to the near post found Paul Dickov with his back to goal but the diminutive striker expertly turned Mikael Silvestre and flashed a stunning volley past Tim Howard into the far corner.

It was the first time Rovers had grabbed the opening goal in a game this season and it gave them vital breathing space.

United met stubborn resistance in their search for an equaliser.

Friedel made the first of countless breathtaking saves when he denied Smith with his feet, then Klebersen unleashed a shot from distance that looked destined for the top corner until Friedel thrust out one of his telescopic arms and diverted it around the post.

At the beginning of the second half, Ferguson introduced Saha and the Frenchman immediately injected more pace and urgency into the United attack.

Friedel thwarted the former Fulham striker, then Saha and Scholes were denied by two defensive blocks and a Smith header prompted yet another jaw-dropping save from Ewood's number one as the pressure intensified.

In a rare foray at the opposite end, a neat interchange involving Tugay and the hard-working Jonathan Stead led to Ferguson dragging a shot just wide of the post but Friedel remained the busier of the two keepers, brilliantly turning aside another Smith header at point-blank range.

Eventually, something had to give and it did in the 70th minute.

Saha raced onto a ball from Scholes but he was stopped in his tracks by Amoruso, who pushed him as he bore down on goal, and the Italian was shown a second yellow card after he had been booked earlier for a foul on Klebersen.

Down to 10 men and with 20 minutes remaining (or 24 depending on whose watch you believe), the omens didn't look good for Rovers but they still had the chance to wrap things up.

An electric run and cross from Emerton left Pedersen with glory in his sights but the Norwegian blasted over and at that point you began to fear there might be a late sting in the tail.

In a nerve-wracking finale, Friedel excelled again with three magnificent saves to thwart Saha, Ronaldo and Scholes.

Then the fourth official held his board up, indicating there was to be four minutes of 'Fergie time'.

Rovers had successfully negotiated all but 30 seconds of that when United won a free kick on the halfway line that Scholes floated into the box and as Craig Short challenged Saha, the ball struck the Frenchman on the arm and dropped invitingly into the path of Smith who thumped it gleefully beyond Friedel.

It was cruel on Rovers and even crueller on Friedel.

United: Howard, G Neville, Spector, Silvestre, O'Shea, Klebersen, Djemba-Djemba, Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Smith. Subs: Saha (for Klebersen, 46), Miller (for Spector, 75), Bellion (for Djemba-Djemba, 80) Not used: P Neville, Carroll

Referee: Mr A Wiley (Staffordshire) 5

Bookings: Rovers; Stead, Amoruso, Tugay United; Klebersen

Sendings off: Amoruso (Rovers)

Attendance: 26,155