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Tuesday, 5 November, 2002, 21:55 GMT
Beckham denies bold Leicester
![]() Richardson makes his mark with United's second
Man Utd 2-0 Leicester
David Beckham shrugged off a week of off-field pressures to steer Manchester United into the fourth round of the Worthington Cup. The England captain, whose wife and children were at the centre of an alleged kidnap plot, steered the Premiership side to victory with a late penalty. And young substitute Kieran Richardson headed his first senior goal in the last minute to secure United's passage through to the next round.
But Leicester, whose flagging finances were boosted by an Old Trafford crowd of around 45,000, made the home side work hard for their win.
United always controlled the game, but struggled to find a way past goalkeeper Ian Walker. Beckham was given the chance to shine in a central midfield role and was immediately in the thick of the action. His superb defence-splitting pass set up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose penalty claims were waved away as he appeared to be chopped down by Frank Sinclair. Diego Forlan went close with a firm header from a superb John O'Shea cross, goalkeeper Ian Walker saving well at the second attempt.
Beckham, who is suspended for Saturday's Manchester derby, was booked for a late, sliding tackle on Stewart as he tried to make amends for losing possession in midfield. And United came up against strong resistance from Leicester defender Matt Heath, who made impressive challenges inside his own area to deny first Daniel Nardiello and then Solskjaer. Heath, though, was booked for a charge on David May on the edge of the area as United continued to dominate. Walker again denied Solskjaer, blocking a shot after the Norwegian had weaved into the penalty area.
The closest the visitors came to a goal was when James Scowcroft reacted quickest to a lobbed the ball back into the box, hooking a shot just wide of Roy Carroll's right-hand post. They did get the ball in the net on the hour, but Sinclair had already been pulled up for a foul on goalkeeper Carroll before Scowcroft poked home. United responded to the continued stalemate by throwing on substitutes Juan Veron and Paul Scholes. Leicester's resistance was finally broken by Beckham's late spot-kick after Solskjaer tumbled under a challenge from Andy Impey.
And Richardson, who only made his United debut a week earlier, capped the win when he met Forlan's cross with a flying header.
Man Utd: Carroll, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, May, O'Shea, Forlan, Beckham, Phil Neville, Fortune, Solskjaer, Nardiello. Subs: Barthez, Veron, Scholes, Pugh, Richardson. Leicester: Walker, Sinclair, Heath, Elliott, Rogers, Impey, Izzet, Davidson, Stewart, Dickov, Scowcroft. Subs: Summerbee, Stevenson, Reeves, Oakes, Benjamin. Referee: C Foy (Merseyside).
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