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DATE:
Wednesday 30th
November 2005
MATCH PREVIEW BY: Martyn Todd Wednesday night sees Albion travel to Old Trafford to
take on the proverbial “Big Boys” in the fourth round of the Carling Cup.
With an outpouring of grief expected at a very emotional Old
Trafford following the death of legendary United star George Best, Albion
could hardly have asked for a more tricky time to visit the ‘Theatre of
Dreams’. Bryan Robson’s men picked up a vital point with an
impressive performance at Steve McClaren’s Middlesbrough on Sunday and with
that coming on top of the 4-0 victory over Everton confidence amongst the
players will be pretty high. As for the game I can see our former loanee Keiran
Richardson causing us problems, we all know what a good player he is when on
the ball, he’s extremely creative and someone who we have missed badly so
far this season. However, if our midfield can
contain Richardson then we’ve a chance in what is sure to be an open game. My
only fear is that Albion do tend to have trouble in ‘killing games’ and I think
this may well cause a problem with the class that United possess. COME ON YOU BAGGIES!!! ALBION Albion boss Bryan Robson looks set to
stick with a similar side to the one that earned a credible draw at the
Riverside Stadium on Sunday afternoon. He will be forced into making two
changes though, with Steve Watson missing due to a hamstring injury and
Curtis Davies cup-tied after featuring in the first round for previous
club Luton Town. The Baggies’ boss will also be without goalkeeper Chris
Kirkland who has still not recovered fully from the bruised kidney he
suffered at Bolton last month. Possible Line-up:
Kuszczak, Albrechtsen, Moore, Clement, Robinson, Greening, Inamoto,
Wallwork, Kamara, Kanu, Ellington.
MANCHESTER UNITED United boss Sir
Alex Ferguson has named a fairly inexperienced squad for Wednesday
night's cup clash at Old Trafford. He has confirmed Gary Neville, Louis
Saha, Tim Howard and Ji-Sung Park will all start but otherwise the team
will be made up mainly of fringe players including former Albion loanee
Kieran Richardson. Possible Line-up:
Howard, Neville, Brown, Pique, O'Shea, Park, Fletcher, Richardson, Ronaldo,
Rossi, Saha.
THIS SEASON
United
currently lie in 2nd place in the Barclays Premiership with
27 points from 13 games.
Ruud van Nistelrooy is the club's leading scorer with
12 league and cup goals.
The 'Red Devils' have won three
of their last four league
and cup games, their last match seeing them beat
West Ham United 2-1 at Upton Park.
In the last round of the Carling Cup they beat Barnet 4-1
at Old Trafford. They face a battle to qualify for the Champions League
knockout stage, currently lying third in group D with six points from five
games. 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 Louis
Saha - He's never quite regained the form he showed whilst at Fulham but
still a very dangerous player, full of pace and a clinical finisher.
Cristiano Ronaldo - Very skilful and pacey winger, full of tricks and
also more than capable of grabbing a goal or two.
Kieran Richardson - Albion fans need no reminding of his capabilities;
quick, skilful and tough tackling. Another player who knows where the goal
is.
Despite a long tradition of games between Albion and
United the two clubs have met just once before in the Football League Cup,
Albion running out 2-0 winners of a fourth round clash at The Hawthorns in
December 2003 thanks to goals from Bernt Haas and Scott Dobie.
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 nine times at Old Trafford drawing
twice and losing seven 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 26 meetings at the venue between the two sides, the solitary victory
being the forementioned game in 1978.
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 the game will remain on general sale at The Hawthorns' East Stand ticket office until 2pm on Wednesday, November 30 and up to 1,000 tickets will be on sale to Albion fans on the turnstiles at Old Trafford until kick-off. Tickets are priced £22 adults, £11 seniors (over-65s) and £7.50 juniors (under-16s). |
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Smith 47 (foul)