Man Utd leave it late against Bradford

Sheringham cannot quite believe his goal

Bradford City 0-3 Manchester United

Bradford City held Manchester United for 71 minutes before a late surge from the champions dashed the home side's hopes of scraping a memorable draw.

The team that started the afternoon five points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership had decided to defend in numbers, pressure United in possession and try to catch the visitors on the break.

It was not pretty, but Bradford blunted United's cutting edge for a long time. When they did finally concede a goal, it was in the cruellest possible manner.

Bradford goalkeeper Gary Walsh got himself into a mess on the edge of the area. He sliced a clearance and the ball was picked up by Teddy Sheringham, who calmly slotted it away for his 17th goal of the season.

Bradford's spirit was good and they made it a very difficult game for us

  Sir Alex Ferguson

Three minutes later, Ryan Giggs, who had been central to much of United's attacking, put the icing on the cake.

Mikael Silvestre found the Welshman on the edge of the Bradford area, and he turned Andrew O'Brien inside out before beating Walsh from a tight angle.

And after 42 minutes of the second half, substitute Luke Chadwick scored his first Premiership goal to make it three.

He beat Walsh from 18 yards after getting on the end of a superb David Beckham through ball.

The traffic was always moving largely towards Bradford's goal. But until the late deluge the home side soaked up the pressure well, and even found time to draw a couple of saves from Fabien Barthez in the first half.

"Bradford were very stubborn," Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said. "They dug in well. Their spirit was good and they made it a very difficult game for us."

Keane beats off a Bradford challenge

He commiserated with Walsh. "Anybody but Gary," Ferguson said. "He played for us for a few years and he was a terrific young goalkeeper. Everybody felt for him."

Bradford's manager, Jim Jefferies, said: "For 70 minutes we did everything right. In the first half, we probably shaded it on shots on target.

"The goal was a mistake. Things like that change games. My only criticism of the team is that after that we accepted it."

It said something for Bradford's efforts that the first on-target attempt of the match actually came from Dean Windass.

He launched a difficult, swerving, dipping shot from 40 yards out after 20 minutes. Barthez had to watch it carefully to tip it over the bar.

And the first save from Walsh was forced by right-back Gary Neville.

Despite that, United were very much in control.

It would be wrong of me to crucify Gary Walsh for his mistake because he is feeling bad enough already

  Bradford City manager Jim Jefferies

But they lacked their usual cutting edge and attacks were breaking down in Bradford's crowded penalty area.

Change of fortune

Giggs and Beckham both came close and Sheringham should have done better with an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer cross after five minutes.

It was a similar story at the start of the second half. The first chance did not come until 14 minutes in, when Roy Keane should have scored after being found in space by Beckham on the edge of the area.

United's change of fortune came just after Sir Alex Ferguson had replaced Jaap Stam and Phillip Neville, who was playing in central midfield, with Wes Brown and Chadwick, moving Beckham into the centre.

Ferguson said he had introduced Chadwick to improve penetration and was pleased with the result.

---

Bradford: Walsh, McCall, Jacobs, Atherton, Molenaar, O'Brien, McKinlay, Jess, Windass, Blake, Ward.
Subs: Davison, Myers, Lawrence, Beagrie, Saunders.

Man Utd: Barthez, Gary Neville, Irwin, Stam, Silvestre, Phil Neville, Beckham, Keane, Solskjaer, Sheringham, Giggs.
Subs: Van Der Gouw, Brown, Cole, Chadwick, Greening.

Referee: A Wiley (Burntwood)