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DATE:
Monday 26th December 2005
MATCH PREVIEW BY: Martyn Todd Boxing Day sees Bryan Robson take his Baggies’ team to
the mighty Old Trafford where he will be looking for the side to repeat last
season’s result and return home with at least a point.
Albion will also be looking for leading scorer Nathan Ellington to
rediscover his scoring touch - his last goal
coming almost a month ago - ironically at Old
Trafford in the club’s Carling Cup defeat. Defensively, Albion will have to put
on their performance of the season. In Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy,
United possess probably the best strike-force in the country, and if they
dont get you there's always the likes of Ronaldo, Giggs and Scholes!
Will Bryan Robson's men deliver a late Christmas present
to all Baggies' fans? Let's hope so. COME ON YOU BAGGIES!!! ALBION With no new injury
worries Baggies' boss Bryan Robson looks likely to stick with a similiar
team to the one that lost at Portsmouth last weekend. The only decision he
has to make is whether to recall Steve Watson and Chris Kirkland in place
of Martin Albrechtsen and Tomasz Kuszczak. Hungarian midfielder Zoltan
Gera returns to the squad after injury but looks unlikely to figure
against United. Possible Line-up:
Kirkland,
Watson,
Davies,
Clement,
Robinson,
Greening, Wallwork, Inamoto, Kamara, Ellington, Kanu MANCHESTER
UNITED Sir Alex Ferguson will ring the
changes to the team that defeated Birmingham City in midweek with
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs
and Edwin Van Der Sar
all returning to the starting line-up. United will be missing Cristiano
Ronaldo however due to suspension. Possible Line-up:
Van Der Sar,
Neville, Ferdinand, Brown, O’Shea, Fletcher, Smith, Scholes, Giggs,
Rooney, van Nistlerooy
THIS SEASON
United
currently lie in 2nd place in the Barclays Premiership with
37 points from 17 games.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is the club's leading scorer with
15 league and cup goals.
The 'Red Devils' have won their last
three league
and cup games, their last match seeing them beat
Birmingham City 3-1 at St Andrews in the Carling Cup quarter finals. They
failed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage, finishing bottom
of Group D behind Villarreal, Benfica and Lille. LAST SEASON
United finished
3rd in the Barclays Premiership with
77 points. They were runners-up
in the FA Cup after being beaten on penalties by Arsenal and
were beaten in the semi-finals of the
Carling Cup by Chelsea. The
club reached the last 16 of the Champions League before losing to AC Milan
and were runners-up to Arsenal in the Community Shield. Wayne Rooney finished the season as
United's top goalscorer with 17 league and cup goals. ONES TO WATCH Wayne
Rooney - One of the World's top players despite being just 20 years old.
Pace, strength, skill and a deadly finish. The complete striker. Ruud
van Nistelrooy - Is continually in the right place at the right time.
Quite simply a goal machine. Paul
Scholes - Hard working and skilful midfielder. Gets forward at every
opportunity and has an excellent goalscoring record.
Albion's first league meetings with Newton Heath - who
would in time become Manchester United - took place in the First Division
during the 1892/93 season. The first game between the sides, at Stoney
Lane, ended in a goalless draw but just one week later at United's North
Road ground Albion ran out 4-2 winners thanks to two goals from Archie
Bostock and one each from Roddy McLeod and Billy Bassett.
The Baggies' biggest win against United came in April
1968 when they recorded a 6-3 victory at The Hawthorns with the late great
Jeff Astle netting three of the Albion goals. Other big wins for Albion
include 5-1 at The Hawthorns in 1925/26, and 5-3 at Old Trafford in
December 1978 - a game that is generally recognised as one of Albion's
greatest ever performances.
United's best win over Albion came at Old Trafford in
April 1970 when they ran out easy 7-0 winners against Alan Ashman's team.
Other notable wins for United include 5-1 in 1951/52, 5-3 in 1966/67
and 5-1 in 1985/86.
Albion's first ever Premiership game took place at Old
Trafford on the opening day of the 2002/03 season when United registered a
narrow 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Baggies' last match at Old Trafford took place less
than a month ago in the Carling Cup. United ran out comfortable 3-1
winners thanks to goals from Ronaldo, Saha and O'Shea. Nathan Ellington
hit Albion's consolation goal.
Albion's last victory at Old Trafford came in December
1978 when goals from Tony Brown (2), Cyrille Regis, Len Cantello and the
late Laurie Cunningham led Albion to a never to be forgotten 5-3 victory.
Since that day Albion have played ten times at Old Trafford drawing twice
and losing eight times.
Over the last 45 years Albion have had an absolutely
terrible record at Old Trafford. In all competitions the club have won just one of the
last 27 meetings at the venue between the two sides, the solitary victory
being the forementioned game in 1978.
LAST LEAGUE
Manchester United
1-1 Albion
Manchester United: Carroll, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, O'Shea, P
Neville (Scholes 68), Fortune, Ronaldo, Kleberson (Rooney 68), Giggs, Smith
(Saha 68). Subs not used: Howard (gk), Miller Goalscorer: Giggs 21
Albion: Hoult (Kuszczak 22), Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement,
Robinson, Gera (Inamoto 83), Wallwork, Greening, Horsfield (Kanu 67),
Earnshaw, Campbell. Subs not used: Scimeca, Moore
Goalscorer: Earnshaw 63 (penalty)
Referee:
Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Butler (Lancashire), James Tattan
(Merseyside)
Half-Time:
Manchester United 1-0 Albion Attendance: 67,827 Conditions: Cloudy with sunny spells, cool wind Sky Sports Match Report: West Brom are still fighting for Premiership survival after stealing a point at Old Trafford despite taking a first half mauling in a 1-1 stalemate. Substitute goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak proved West Brom's hero as a Robert Earnshaw penalty in the second half cancelled out Ryan Giggs' quickly taken free-kick in the first period. The half time statistics revealed much about the disparity in class between those at the top of the Premiership and those at the bottom. Whilst Manchester United had managed 17 shots on goal, West Brom's paucity of possession failed to yield a single attempt and were it not for a bit of bad finishing, a lot of good fortune and some inspired goalkeeping from Kuszczak then the scoreline may have been embarrassing. Despite having indulged in the luxury of resting Ruud van Nistelrooy, Wayne Rooney and a plethora of other regulars, Sir Alex Ferguson's second string still possessed far too much for Albion as Ronaldo and Giggs were in tantalising form. Within the opening quarter of an hour United had signalled their intent when Russell Hoult was forced to gather at his feet from Ronaldo's driving run and shot, pull off a fine instinctive stop from Quinton Fortune's snapshot but then injured his groin clawing away a wayward header from team-mate Neil Clement. Moments later, in the 21st minute, United were awarded a free-kick on the edge of West Brom's box and with Hoult clearly labouring Giggs clipped the ball over the wall and beyond the crocked custodian. Immediately, some would say too late, Hoult signalled to be substituted and was replaced by Kuszczak - who produced the type of display that suggests he could be a face to watch in the future. The inexperienced Pole was immediately called into action as Giggs eased passed him but saw his cross drift across an unguarded goal and then excelled in blocking Fortune's powerful header at his near post. Ronaldo's snapshot needed an excellent save to keep United at bay and then the same player was denied by a brave stop from close range. United's inability to finish teams off has been a major feature of their season and as West Brom went into the interval with only a one goal deficit there was an inevitability that their performance had to improve on a lacklustre first period. Yet, United had further chances to kill off the most one sided of games early in the second half - when after dazzling wing play from Giggs, the perennial underachiever Kleberson was unfortunate to see his shot on the run superbly parried by Kuszczak. West Brom's first half-chance fell to Kevin Campbell when he closed on John O'Shea's weak header but Roy Carroll was off his line to clear, before Kleberson had his head in his hands again after blazing widely over from Fortune's cut-back. When Phil Neville's raking pass played in Ronaldo a goal looked in the offing but having pulled the ball wide another crucial chance was lost. With Robson looking concerned on the touchline, just past the hour mark, Geoff Horsfield bore down on goal and after grabbling with John O'Shea, referee Mark Halsey pointed to the spot. Earnshaw kept his nerve from twelve yards to become the first West Brom player in 24 years to score at Old Trafford and earn The Baggies a foot-hold in a game that had at one point looked to have been a complete mismatch. Sir Alex had seen enough and signalled his big guns off the bench as Louis Saha, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were all called into action. Rooney was the first to test Kuszczak and saw his daisy-cutter parried wide but not before substitute Kanu was felled by Giggs in the box - albeit if his fall was theatrical. Scholes then took a lick of paint off Kuszczak's far post, with the rebound somehow not ending in the West Brom goal. However, the final say deservedly belonged to Kuszczak when he flung himself to his left to deny a Rooney freekick and preserve West Brom's Premiership status for another week at least. CURRENT CONNECTIONS Albion boss Bryan Robson became the country's most expensive player when he moved from The Hawthorns to United in 1981. He spent 13 glorious years at Old Trafford, firmly cementing his name as a United legend. Baggies’ midfielder Jonathan Greening spent three and a half years at Old Trafford after joining them from York City in 1998. He moved on to Middlesbrough in 2001 before moving to The Hawthorns in the summer of 2004. Ronnie Wallwork moved to The Hawthorns from United in July 2002 on a 'Bosman' free transfer. He has now made over 70 appearances for Albion. Winger Kieran Richardson was one of the heroes of Albion's 'Great Escape' in 2004/05. Joining on loan from United in January he helped guide Albion to safety before returning to Old Trafford in the summer. Mike Phelan joined Albion on a free transfer from United in 1994 but his two year spell at The Hawthorns was hugely disappointing. He is now a member of United's coaching staff. Michael Appleton started his career as an apprentice at Old Trafford. He signed for Preston North End in 1997 and spent four years at Deepdale before moving to The Hawthorns in January 2001. His time at Albion was sadly cut short when forced to retire through injury in November 2003 at the age of just 27. He is currently a part of Albion's Academy coaching team. PAST CONNECTIONS Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Arthur Albiston, Peter Barnes, Garth Crooks, Laurie Cunningham, Johnny Giles, Graeme Hogg, Jim Holton, Mick Martin, Remi Moses, Jimmy Nicholl, Maurice Setters and Mickey Thomas. Shamed TV pundit Ron Atkinson managed both clubs; Ex-Albion boss Nobby Stiles was a United player; Stuart Pearson played for United and later became a coach at The Hawthorns; Ex-United boss Jimmy Murphy was an Albion player during the 1930's; Former Albion player Brian Whitehouse coached at Old Trafford; Mick Brown was assistant manager at both clubs under Ron Atkinson. ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS MANCHESTER UNITED
LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED
Tickets for this game are now sold out for Albion fans. |
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Smith 47 (foul)