ROVERS gave as good as they got, fighting tooth and nail during an exciting night of football.
FRIEDEL: Difficult to criticise the American for Beckham's equaliser after pulling off a string of saves to keep Rovers' in the game...7 CURTIS: Did an excellent job on the lively Ryan Giggs as he proved a point to his former boss...7 BJORNEBYE: Drew on all his experience to keep England skipper David Beckham quiet down the right...7 SHORT: A real colossus at the back but paid a heavy price for talking himself into the book at the start of the second half...8 BERG: Calm and assured again at the back, he managed to keep the lid on the dangerous Ruud Van Nistelrooy...8 FLITCROFT: Stamping his authority in midfield with another whole-hearted display...8 MAHON: What a way to make your Premiership debut! Ran himself into the ground as Roy Keane and Co were forced to play second fiddle at times...8 GILLESPIE: Has he had a better game in a Rovers shirt? Always carried a threat on the right and scored a truly breathtaking goal...8 JANSEN: Got through a tremendous amount of work but never quite hit top form...7 GRABBI: Should have made more of a couple of chances but it was his battle with Barthez which sparked Rovers' revival...7 DUFF: Always a dangerous outlet down the left before fading out of it in the final 20 minutes...7 SUBS: BLAKE: Short of support up front after Rovers went down to 10 men...6
TAYLOR: Came on at a pressure time but stood up to the test...7
HIGNETT: Introduced at the death.
OPPOSITE CAMP:
BARTHEZ...Provided comic relief 5
IRWIN...Signs of coming to an end 6
SILVESTRE...Troubled by Gillespie 6
JOHNSEN...Unconvincing at times 6
BROWN...See above 6
KEANE...Didn't have it all his own way 7
VERON...Looked a class act on ball 7
SCHOLES...United's biggest threat 8
BECKHAM...Excellent quick-thinking 7
VAN NISTELROOY...Kept pretty quiet 7
GIGGS...Great finish for the opener 8
SUBS: G NEVILLE: Had a steadying influence 7; YORKE: Failed to make much of an impression 6; COLE: Didn't get a clear sight of goal 6
STATS:
Goal attempts: Rovers 10 United 18
Shots on target: Rovers 3 United 7
Woodwork: Rovers 2 United 2
Offsides: Rovers 4 United 6
Corners: Rovers 3 United 7
Free kicks: Rovers 18 United 16
REFEREE... A Wiley (Staffordshire) 5
ATTENDANCE... 29,936
Bookings: Rovers: Short (dissent), Flitcroft (foul) United: Silvestre (foul)
Rovers: Short (second booking) United: None
TIME FOR ACTION:
01Keith Gillespie forces a save from Fabien Bathez inside 30 seconds
02Matt Jansen thunders a header against the bar
19Ciccio Grabbi can't believe it as he fires wide from four yards out
201-0 to United as Giggs hammers a shot into the top right corner
42Paul Scholes rattles the post with a screamer from 20 yards
43Friedel saves Rovers with a stop from a David Beckham free kick
46Rovers fans are up in arms as the ref rules out a 'goal' from Grabbi after a foul on Barthez
49It's 1-1 as Mahon whips over a free kick which skims off Beckham's head into the far corner
50The crossbar saves United as Berg beats Barthez with a header
53Friedel pulls off a point-blank save to keep out a Giggs header
61Barthez goes walkabout again but Grabbi shoots wide
69 It's 2-1 Rovers as Gillespie thumps a powerful left-foot drive past Barthez into the top right corner
77Disaster strikes as Short sees red after picking up a second yellow
78Beckham spots Friedel off his line and steps up to bend home
90Andy Cole shoots straight at Friedel with the goal at his mercy
TEAMS:
Rovers (4-4-2): from right to left
Friedel
Curtis, Berg, Short, Bjornebye
Gillespie, Flitcroft, Mahon, Duff
Jansen, Grabbi
Subs: Blake (for Grabbi, 72), Taylor (for Jansen, 79), Hignett (for Gillespie, 89) Not used: Hughes, Filan (gk)
United (4-4-1-1):
Barthez
Irwin, Brown, Johnsen, Silvestre
Beckham, Veron, Keane, Giggs
Scholes
Van Nistelrooy
Subs: G Neville (for Irwin, 68), Cole (for Van Nistelrooy, 72), Yorke (for Scholes, 72) Not used: Solskjaer, Carroll (gk)
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