Carson stands tall as United fail Leeds test
On his first senior start, Carson stood tall at the Premiership’s biggest ground. And while friends from the Cleator Moor Celtic Club he was playing alongside just 18 months ago were no doubt delighted at the performance he produced, they will have been less pleased that it almost certainly wrecked any hope United have of retaining their Premiership crown.
The 18-year-old, standing in for suspended England international Paul Robinson, remained largely composed.
Carson was slightly at fault for Paul Scholes’ opener, but he enjoyed a bit of luck early on when he blocked a goal-bound Mikael Silvestre effort which flicked up off Gary Kelly and then kept his nerve to palm away Nicky Butt’s acrobatic second-half volley.
Other than that, and a late effort Ruud van Nistelrooy somehow spooned over the bar, Carson was under-employed.
When his old team-mates sit over their pint to discuss the impact of the outcome on United’s title aspirations, the youngster hopes they will not judge him too harshly.
“I think a lot of them were getting together to watch the highlights on TV,” he said. “Hopefully they will have been backing me even though most of them support Manchester United. When I walked out into the stadium in front of 67,000 people I just couldn’t believe it. I kept looking around trying to take it all in.
“Fortunately I settled down a bit once the game got going. I tried to keep my concentration and kept telling myself to keep a steady head and we would get a result and thankfully we did.”
While the gloss was taken off the hard-earned point later on as Wolves secured the victory which sent Leeds back to the basement, the Elland Road outfit’s battling display has raised genuine hope they can avoid relegation.
Without Robinson and Mark Viduka, they were given little hope of avoiding another damaging defeat but on the day Leeds mourned the passing John Charles, a contemporary hero led the stirring resistance.
Alex Ferguson is a long-time admirer of Alan Smith and though the Scot will have cursed the damage inflicted on his team’s Premiership hopes by the striker’s second-half leveller, he could not have failed to be impressed by the gruff Yorkshireman’s contribution.
In his preferred striking role, Smith ran tirelessly, always offering an option to Leeds’ under-pressure defence and giving United’s own rearguard a tough, physical workout without having to resort to the over-the-top methods that have scarred his contribution so often.
“Alan Smith did a great job for Leeds,” said Ferguson. “He was up there on his own and he allowed them to counter-attack very well. It was a poor performance by us and they deserved a point.”
United’s afternoon started creditably as the two sets of supporters observed a minute’s silence in memory of Charles, probably the finest player ever to wear Leeds’ famous white shirt.
After that it went downhill rapidly.
Silvestre’s early effort proved the prelude to the Frenchman picking up knee and ankle injuries which threaten to keep him out of Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Porto.
Half-chances came and went, but not long after Roy Keane’s arrival off the substitutes’ bench, Paul Scholes, deployed in a wide role to accommodate the unconvincing Kleberson, continued his run after laying off a pass to Gary Neville and was on hand to fire home the rebound after Carson had pushed the cross to the edge of the six-yard area.
Having been made to work so hard for their goal, United tossed the advantage away within two minutes as Smith rose at the far post to nod home Didier Domi’s cross.
Try as they might, the home side could not find a second, van Nistelrooy spurning the best chance late on
But Leeds’ Eddie Gray reckons the title race is not over yet. “Arsenal are unbeaten so it’s not going to be easy for Manchester United that’s for sure,” he said. “But they usually come strong at this stage of the season and they have the players to win every game if that is what they have to do.”
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