David Beckham lit up what was otherwise a dull Champions League encounter at Old Trafford this evening with a late winner to give Manchester United the best possible start to their new campaign. Their opponents Lille were composed throughout and produced some fine defending to deny United several scoring opportunities before Beckham finally broke the deadlock in injury time.
In fact, over the course of this match, many will feel that the French side deserved at least a point from this encounter where they more than matched anything United had to offer. The Old Trafford side suffered an early blow when defender Gary Neville was stretchered off after a clash of heads with Gregory Tafforeau and had to be replaced by Mikael Silvestre.
United were not helped by the fact that Rudd van Nistelrooy was playing up front on his own with partner Paul Scholes given a much deeper role. Juan Veron played more of an attacking role in supporting Nistelrooy and came close to scoring in the opening stages, forcing a good save from Gregory Wimbee. Ryan Giggs also went close and United seemed to be taking control of the game and it was just a question of when rather than if they would score.
However, Lille refused to be overawed by their hosts and were comfortable on the ball, passing it about with ease. They did not leave all the goal-scoring opportunities to United. A free-kick from Bruno Cheyrou was parried away by Fabien Barthez and Dagui Bakari blazed over the rebound. The French side grew in confidence as the game wore on and United remained scoreless despite all their chances.
After the half-time interval, United increased the pressure on the visitors but still to no avail. It was becoming clear that Ferguson's chosen formation of 4-4-1-1 was not having the desired affect. Lille continued to look more dangerous and were denied a goal by the woodwork when Bakari's cross came off the crossbar with Barthez beaten and Blanc blocked Djezon Boutoille's shot from the rebound on the line.
Relieved by this let-off, United pressed forward once again, eager for a goal. An effort from substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went narrowly wide before a last-minute effort from England captain David Beckham found the net. Dutchman van Nistelrooy found the midfielder with a wonderful cross and although Beckham did not make clean contact with the ball, his strike was enough to beat Wimbee.
United survived a few hairy moments in stoppage time to secure their victory but they will be all too aware that they will need to improve their performance ten-fold if they are to have any chance of repeating their feat of 1999 and lifting the Champions League trophy.
For the rest of tonight's Champions League results, check out www.rte.ie/soccer/scores.html.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
