Rare Neville goal grabs victory

Manchester United 1 Leicester 0

Two Manchester United captains hit the headlines in unexpected fashion within a matter of hours leaving the Republic of Ireland joyous and Leicester in trouble.

While the welcome return of Roy Keane to the Irish fold is a testament to the negotiating skills and professionalism of new coach Brian Kerr, the ability of the combative midfielder to sustain a renewed international career after his shock retirement U-turn was called into question by his absence from the United line-up tonight.

As Keane nursed the bumps and bruises picked up 11 days ago in the season-saving FA Cup semi-final win over Arsenal, his stand-in Gary Neville made his mark on a momentous day in equally surprising fashion, lashing home his first goal of the campaign as United cut the gap on leaders Arsenal to 10 points and, more importantly, on second-placed Chelsea to three.

For Leicester, the familiar sinking feeling of defeat leaves them cast adrift in the bottom two, two wins away from safety and barring a five-game miracle, certainties to drop straight back into the Nationwide League.

It was probably a good thing that Keane had declared his intention to wear the famous green shirt again. If he had not, the home fans would have had nothing else to chat about as the opening period dragged on with barely an incident of note.

The best chance came within 90 seconds as Roy Carroll, given first chance to stake a claim for an FA Cup final berth, drilled a John O’Shea back-pass straight at Muzzy Izzet who was barely eight yards from the United goal.

Given Leicester’s sorry plight, it was an opportunity they could barely have dreamed of. Izzet seemed to realise it too and the pressure told as the Foxes skipper rushed his shot badly and screwed it so far wide it went out for a throw-in.

Unhappily for the visitors, returning wide-man Jordan Stewart repeated the feat towards the end of the half, completing an unwanted double when he latched onto Marcus Bent’s inside pass and rocketed a shot which bobbled over the touchline after striking the corner flag.

Stewart came a lot closer when he headed an Izzet free-kick just wide, although Leicester could not claim exclusivity on the rare opportunities that were created.

Surprisingly, Nicky Butt had two of the best for United, blasting one drive into Billy McKinlay before his dipping volley was saved by Ian Walker.

Of less shock was the way the pace of Cristiano Ronaldo and Louis Saha threatened to unhinge the visitors’ defence at regular intervals.

The pair combined brilliantly midway through the opening period, Ronaldo starting the full speed attack and Saha almost finishing it before Ian Walker rushed bravely from his goal to block.

Six goals in six Premiership starts almost became seven from seven for Saha, when he volleyed Neville’s cross just wide.

If Sir Alex Ferguson had brought in the fringe men such as Butt, Diego Forlan and David Bellion hoping they would press their claims for cup final places, he was sadly mistaken.

Forlan lasted just six minutes of the second period before he was replaced by Darren Fletcher and trooped unhappily down the tunnel without even looking towards the home dug-out.

Ferguson watched the Uruguayan’s progress with some concern, although by then his team had taken the lead.

When the dust has settled, the United manager might question why Neville had advanced into the Leicester box anyway but having done so, the England full-back wasted no time in burying a Ronaldo shot that had been deflected straight into his path.

It maintained Neville’s record of scoring roughly once every 85 appearances and was greeted with understandable jubilation from the lifelong United fan.

Forlan’s departure freed Scholes to push further forward and he embarked on a one-man mission to beat Walker, crashing three shots at his fellow England international, all of which were saved or beaten away.

In one of his more commanding moods, Walker was having a fine evening and produced a superb flying stop to deny the excellent Ronaldo, whose influence on the current United side is growing with every game.

Ferguson has promised to give the dazzling Portuguese winger the Ryan Giggs-kid gloves treatment as he forges his Old Trafford career and there is every indication Ronaldo could be just as influential as the much-decorated Welshman over time.

Another shot fizzed wide off his right boot before the end but though Leicester hustled and bustled, United did not really need the extra insurance.