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Kanu leads Arsenal

Man United loses Charity Shield again

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Posted: Sunday August 01, 1999 04:59 PM

Kiss my Arsenal: Kanu blows kisses after scoring a goal to help Arsenal beat Man U in the Charity Shield. AP

WEMBLEY, England (AP) - Nwankwo Kanu calmly rolled in a penalty and then set up the winner for Ray Parlour as Arsenal downed Manchester United 2-1 Sunday in the traditional curtain-raiser to the English season, the Charity Shield.

Dwight Yorke gave the Premier League titlist, FA Cup holder and Champions League winner United a 37th-minute lead after David Beckham's trademark 30-yard free kick banged off the underside of the crossbar, and Yorke was there to put it away. Alex Ferguson's team dominated the first half.

Beckham's free kick hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down behind the line, spun back out and Yorke headed in.

Although the goal was originally credited to Beckham by the stadium announcer and the official statistician, Ferguson said afterwards: "The referee did not actually give the goal when it crossed the line from Beckham's free-kick. He only awarded the goal when Dwight Yorke headed it in. Morally, it might be David's goal, but technically it is Dwight's."

But Kanu leveled from the spot in the 66th minute after Patrick Vieira's shirt had been pulled by Dennis Irwin. And the Nigerian star slid a well-timed pass through to Parlour for the winner 13 minutes from the end as the Gunners beat United in the traditional showdown for the second year in a row.

Before a sun-drenched crowd at Wembley in temperatures on the field estimated at 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.5 Celsius), both teams had several stars missing because of injured picked up in pre-season training and warm-up games.

Arsenal was forced to play without England goalkeeper David Seaman, captain Tony Adams and Dutch stars Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars, while Manchester United was missing Irish midfielder Roy Keane, England defender Gary Neville, Welsh winger Ryan Giggs and versatile Norwegian Ronny Johnsen.

After 20 minutes of tedious play, tempers flared and referee Graham Barber issued four yellow cards within six minutes.

Beckham was cautioned for dissent, Martin Keown and Nicky Butt for a flare-up in the Arsenal penalty area and Jordi Cruyff for a foul.

Austrian goalkeeper Alex Manninger dived to his right to make a fine blocking save from Andy Cole in the 24th minute for the first positive action, but the game improved as halftime neared. The first goal arrived in spectacular style.

Later, Kanu almost wriggled through with a typical run in the 54th minute but was tackled as he was about to shoot and didn't worry Mark Bosnich in the United goal.

But the Nigerian star, whose skills on the ball have made him a big favorite with the Gunners fans, got his reward in the 66th minute.

Parlour fired a shot against the United post, and then Irwin gave away the penalty when he tugged Viera's shirt as the Frenchman raced for goal. Kanu coolly slid home the spot kick, sending Bosnich the wrong way.

Yorke should have hit back for United when Cole sent him clear in the 71st minute, but the Trinidad & Tobago international pulled his shot tamely wide with only Manninger to beat.

A minute later, Cole broke away from the Gunners defense, but the agile Manninger blocked his shot with a reflex-action save.

The save became even more valuable when Arsenal grabbed the winner.

The Gunners grabbed possession from a Bosnich goal kick; Kanu turned and slid a short pass into space on the right for Parlour to race clear and shoot home via the inside of the far post.

Scorers:

Arsenal: Nwankwo Kanu 67pen, Ray Parlour 7

Manchester United: Dwight Yorke 37

Halftime: 0-1; Attendance: 70,185

Teams

Arsenal: 13-Alex Manninger; 2-Lee Dixon, 5-Martin Keown, 3-Nigel Winterburn, 18-Gilles Grimandi, 4-Patrick Vieira, 16-Silvinho (21-Luis Boa Morte 65), 17-Emmanuel Petit, 15-Ray Parlour (22-Oleg Luzhny 89), 8-Fredrik Ljungberg, 25-Nwankwo Kanu

Manchester United: 1-Mark Bosnich; 3-Denis Irwin, 6-Jaap Stam (4-David May 46), 21-Henning Berg, 12-Philip Neville, 7-David Beckham, 8-Nicky Butt (10-Teddy Sheringham 81), 18-Paul Scholes, 14-Jordi Cruyff (20-Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 61), 9-Andy Cole, 19-Dwight Yorke.

Referee: Graham Barber

 

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