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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