Charlton hold Man Utd

Irwin led out the Man Utd team on his last appearance

Man Utd 0-0 Charlton

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Charlton Athletic held Manchester United to their first scoreless Premiership match in three years in a disappointing finale to the season.

Liverpool's win over Ipswich meant that United finished the season in third spot - their lowest ever Premiership placing - while Charlton ended their campaign in 14th place.

With neither team with much to play for, the game had a real end of season feel to it.

The United fans received a boost before kick-off when David Beckham was paraded on the pitch minutes after signing a new three-year contract.

Full story of Beckham's new deal

And Denis Irwin captained the Reds on his 527th and last appearance as his 12-year Old Trafford career came to an end.

Solskjaer skips past Charlton's Jorge Costa and Scott Parker

But it was Charlton who dominated much of the game and made all the running.

Jason Euell should have scored after 24 minutes when he was put through on goal by Marcus Stewart, only to shoot straight at Fabian Barthez who saved comfortably.

Five minutes later Kevin Lisbie skipped past Wes Brown into the six-yard box, but the covering Phil Neville blocked his shot for a corner.

Lisbie then came even closer when he squandered a glorious chance to give Charlton the lead on 36 minutes with a late contender for miss of the season.

Chris Bart-Williams pulled the ball back from the right wing and with the goal at his mercy, Lisbie somehow managed to sidefoot wide from only yards out.

United, despite the presence of Roy Keane, lacked sparkle and just could not rouse themselves.

Diego Forlan came close to scoring his first goal for Man Utd

Ferguson tried to inject some impetus into the lacklustre proceedings 10 minutes into the second half when he brought on Ryan Giggs for Michael Stewart.

The Welshman was quickly into the action and fed Quinten Fortune on the left with a delightful cross-field ball only for the assistant referee to flag for offside.

Diego Forlan, making his 18th United appearance, had still to score his first goal and in the space of a few seconds he twice came agonisingly close to breaking his duck.

First Charlton keeper Dean Kiely touched the striker's half-volley from the left away for a corner, and then he fired a right-foot drive from the right side of the area just wide.

On 68 minutes, Irwin's 12-year United career came to an end when he was replaced by John O'Shea, and he left the pitch for the last time to a standing ovation.

Keane nearly snatched victory for United in stoppage time only for Kiely to save his close-range shot.

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Man Utd: Barthez (Van Der Gouw 77), Phil Neville, Blanc, Brown, Irwin (O'Shea 68), Stewart (Giggs 59), Keane, Scholes, Fortune, Solskjaer, Forlan.
Subs Not Used: Wallwork, Lynch.
Booked: Irwin, Phil Neville.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Costa, Rufus, Powell, Bart-Williams, Parker, Stuart (Jensen 76), Konchesky (Johansson 82), Euell, Lisbie (Svensson 90).
Subs Not Used: Ilic, Fortune.

Attendance: 67,571

Referee: G Poll (Tring).