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Substitute scores Ferguson praises Scholes for historic goal
Posted: Thursday March 18, 1999 04:01 PM
MILAN, Italy (Reuters) -- Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson praised his goalscorer Paul Scholes on Wednesday and said the English league leaders thoroughly deserved their historic 1-1 draw at Inter Milan. Ferguson had said all week that United would score at the San Siro in their European Cup quarterfinal second leg clash. The Scot had to wait until two minutes from the final whistle but he was proved right when substitute Scholes, who had been dropped from the starting line-up, slotted the ball under Inter goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca. The goal gave United a 3-1 aggregate victory and secured their place in the semifinals. It also meant that for the first time in seven visits stretching back to 1958, United left Italy with something other than a defeat. "Inter had to attack at the end and with only two men at the back they were always open to a counter-attack," Ferguson said. "Scholes is a terrific finisher. He wasn't left out of the side because he'd done anything wrong. It was simply that I felt Ronny Johnsen's abilities were best suited to this match." Scholes' goal came after Nicola Ventola had gave Inter hope of a place in the semifinals with a goal after 63 minutes, three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Ronaldo. The Brazilian had a dire match and appeared to be severely hampered by the knee injuries that have wrecked his season. Ferguson said he understood Inter coach Mircea Lucescu's decision to field Ronaldo, even if the gamble did not pay off. "He did well enough under the circumstances," Ferguson said. "I can understand why Inter would want to play Ronaldo even if he's not playing at his peak. A player like that is always capable of changing the match with a piece of individual skill." "I thought Inter looked very nervous in the opening 15 minutes and I felt that in general play we were the better team," he said. "Inter played like a team that needed to be inspired by either good play or by Ronaldo. On the occasions when their play was good they had us in trouble." Ronaldo has played only six full matches all season and just 79 minutes of competitive soccer since his return to the Inter side after a two-month lay-off. "Of course Ronaldo is not 100 percent fit but that's only to be expected," Lucescu said. "I spoke to him at halftime and he said he wanted to play on but I decided to take him off after an hour because he looked weary." "We played hesitantly in the first half but in the second half we were much more aggressive," Lucescu added. "But for me the turning point was when Ze Elias missed a great opportunity to score a second. I think that's when the players sensed it was not their night." "We lost the chance to qualify for the semis in Manchester two weeks ago, not here tonight." It was the first time in United's 42-year European history that they had knocked out an Italian team and made up in part for their dreadful record in Italy. They had lost twice to AC Milan and four times to Juventus on their previous six visits and had scored just one goal. Inter's exit compounds a disastrous season for them. They are out of the Italian Cup, well adrift in the championship and must have serious doubts over Ronaldo's ability to recover from his injury.
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