Scholes earns final shot at redemption with screamer

I DON’T want charity, if I play in any final, I want it to be on merit, not sentiment” — Paul Scholes, earlier this month, responding to Alex Ferguson’s insistence that, should Manchester United reach Moscow for the Champions League final on May 21, the ageing midfielder would be the first name on his team-sheet.

Ferguson does not usually do sentiment, but having seen Scholes robbed of the chance to play in the final against Bayern Munich nine years ago, sentiment was going to play a part all right.

But Scholes needn’t worry. When Ferguson draws up his team-sheet in the Luzhniki Stadium next month, Scholes’s name will be first on it. And it won’t be charity. If ever a player earned a place in a cup final, Scholes did, with a spell-binding display to drive United to victory against Barcelona at Old Trafford last night.