Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson made his intentions clear during the club's brief visit to Kansas City. At a press conference Saturday, with a platter of Oklahoma Joe's ribs (a gift from Wizard's president Robb Heineman) in front of him, Sir Alex said, "We're here to win." (Click here -- Kansas City Wizards beat Manchester United at Arrowhead Stadium -- for a slideshow.)
But at 10:41, Wizards captain Davy Arnaud made his statement about
the Wizards' plans for the afternoon. Arnaud took a pass from forward
Kei Kamara, bolted past the Man Utd defense and buried a shot in the far
end of goal past keeper Ben Amos, who looked stunned to be facing
pressure so early on.
And the Wizards didn't step off the gas. Most of the action for the next
several minutes kept Manchester United on their heels and Amos sweating
through his hideous teal keepers uniform.
In the 31st minute, Wizards keeper Jimmy Nielsen preserved the lead with
a save on a shot by Nani, then one and a half minutes later, Nani
flicked a pass from Ryan Giggs on net, and again Nielsen was the hero by
pawing it wide of the target.
Clearly frustrated, United captain Ryan Giggs was shown a yellow card in
front of the Wizards' net after getting into a shoving match with
Wizards' defender Michael Harrington.
In the 39th minute, United got the break they were looking for. Dimitar
Berbatov charged the net, chased by Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad.
Berbatov went down in the box after Conrad attempted to steal the ball.
Although Conrad clearly played the ball rather than Berbatov, the referee sent Conrad off with a red card, and Berbatov was given a
penalty kick, which he easily netted.
Not undone by the weak penalty and booking, the short-handed Wizards
returned to Manchester's end where Kamara booted a ball straight down
off the crossbar. It appeared that the ball did not cross the goal line,
but in another interesting bit of officiating, the tally was awarded
anyway, and the Wizards took a 2-1 lead into halftime.
The second half lacked action. The Red Devils, who were out shot 12-5 in
the first half, attempted to raise the aggression level on the 10-man
Wizards. Despite having plenty of chances, and loitering for most
of the half near the Wizards' net, United couldn't convert -- to the
frustration of their coach, who grumbled about blown opportunities in a post-game press conference.
The Wizards' stout defensive effort in the second half ensured that the club opened up the newly updated Arrowhead with an unlikely victory.
Arnaud, who spent six years of his childhood in England, admitted the result was a bit of a surprise.
"I think everybody knows the answer to that," he said with smile after
being asked if he predicted a Wizards victory. "Realistically, we would
lose nine times out of 10. But today is a great day for soccer in
Kansas City."
Game notes
The crowd of 52,424 shattered the previous "Mid-America" soccer
attendance record. There was no clarification about the boundaries
of "Mid-America," but it beat a 2001 U.S. World Cup qualifying match.
The crowd appeared mixed between Manchester United and Wizards fans -- but there seemed to be more Manchester Utd fans in the stands.
The large crowd totally didn't impress Sir Alex, who dismissed the attendance record by saying his club is a big draw wherever they go.
It was a bad day for Manchester soccer teams all over. In another
friendly, the New York Red Bulls defeated Manchester City FC 2-1 before a
paltry crowd of 23, 228 in New York.
The game was United's first lost on their North American tour, having
beaten the Philadelphia Union 1-0 and Celtic 3-1in Toronto. Their next
showdown is with the MLS all-stars in Houston Wednesday.
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"Although Conrad clearly played the ball rather than Berbatov, the referee sent Conrad off with a red card, and Berbatov was given a penalty kick, which he easily netted."
Are you serious? Were you watching a different game? Conrad's foot never touched the ball. He got 100 percent shin.
That was a textbook red card if there ever was one.
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