No Emergencies in Game 999

By David Hobbs
November 20 2004

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson complimented his 999th game in charge of United with a 2-0 victory over Alan Curbishley's Charlton Athletic side, who are yet to beat The Red Devils in the league. United's season has now taken a shot in the arm thanks to two consecutive wins.

No Emergencies in Game 999

Manchester United 2
Giggs 41, Scholes 50

Charlton Athletic 0

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson complimented his 999th game in charge of United with a 2-0 victory over Alan Curbishley's Charlton Athletic side, who are yet to beat The Red Devils in the league.

United's season has now taken a shot in the arm thanks to two consecutive wins.

The first game after international fixtures will always cause some confusion amongst the media when team selection is concerned. A number of United players represented their countries in midweek and the fatigue must have caught up with Gary Neville, who wasn't included in the 16 man squad, neither was Argentine left-back Gabriel Heinze.

Ferguson admitted Cristiano Ronaldo would be given a break at some point during the season and it might be from today onwards as the Portuguese winger was left on the bench, being replaced by Ryan Giggs. The Welshman had yet to start a game in the month of November prior to the match. Despite signs of a minor hip injury, Ruud van Nistelrooy started upfront with Wayne Rooney.

The Dutch frontman had the chance to break the deadlock just moments into the game. A cross courtesy of right-back Wes Brown was met by the head of Van Nistelrooy, but couldn't get enough power behind his attempt.

Wayne Rooney continued his team-mates' mentality of keeping Charlton goalkeeper Dean Kiely on his toes by drilling the ball right at the Irishman from 25 yards later on in the first period.

A flurry of attacking activity from the home side shortly followed after Ryan Giggs swung in a free kick from the left channel. Attempts from captain Roy Keane were clocked by Irish counterpart Matt Holland and the ball eventually ran free to Paul Scholes, who couldn't direct his shot.

Danny Murphy nearly bagged yet another league goal against The Red Devils but his right footed volley was bravely blocked by a solid Rio Ferdinand.

However, with just 5 minutes left to go in the first half, Ryan Giggs sent out a strong message to all his critics and indeed manager by drilling home from outside of the box to put his side 1-0 up.  

Paul Scholes kept up United's attacking momentum early into the second 45 all thanks to a pin-point Darren Fletcher goal. Scholes pounced to double United's lead and break his nagging goal-drought.

The tempo of the game steadily decreased as United looked content to protect their lead.

Both sides tired to bolster their attacking options with 15 minutes to go. Francis Jeffers replaced Shaun Bartlett whilst Alan Smith came on for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The closing stages allowed both sides to play conservative football with United acknowledging they've won and Charlton accepting defeat.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be hoping his 1000th game in charge against Lyon in the Champions League is as good as his 999th.

Final Score: Manchester United 2 - Charlton Athletic 0
(Half Time: Manchester United 1 - Charlton Athletic 0)
Att: 67,704

Manchester United: R Carroll, W Brown, R Ferdinand, M Silvestre, Q Fortune, D Fletcher, R Keane, P Scholes, R Giggs, W Rooney, R van Nistelrooy. Subs: T Howard, P Neville, C Ronaldo, A Smith, J O'Shea

Charlton Athletic: D Kiely, L Young, C Perry, T El Karkouri, H Hreidarsson, R Kishishev, M Holland, D Murphy, J Thomas, S Bartlett, J Johansson. Subs: J Euell, F Jeffers, S Andersen, P Konchesky, J Fortune

Refereed By: Rob Styles