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:: Thomas Penton :: May 3 :: Cleveland


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Man U outlasts Blackburn's Friedel, into Carling final

Posted: Wednesday January 25, 2006 5:56PM; Updated: Wednesday January 25, 2006 5:56PM

LONDON (AP) -- Ruud van Nistelrooy and Louis Saha scored to overcome a standout effort by goalkeeper Brad Friedel on Wednesday, enabling Manchester United to beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 and reach the English League Cup final against upstart Wigan Athletic.

Van Nistelrooy and Saha's goals in the second-leg semifinal advanced the Reds on a 3-2 aggregate score despite the efforts of Friedel, who saved one penalty and repeatedly thwarted Man United with a series of dramatic saves.

United next goes to the Feb. 26 final to meet a Wigan side which upset Arsenal in the other semifinal. Wigan, in its first season in the top flight of English soccer, reached its first major cup final on Tuesday, losing 2-1 at Highbury but advancing on away goals.

Van Nistelrooy gave United an eighth-minute lead when Rovers lost possession in their own half and Wayne Rooney provided the final pass for the Dutchman's scoring effort.

United's defense handed Mark Hughes' team the equalizer with some comical defending in the 32nd minute.

Kieran Richardson's attempted clearance struck teammate Wes Brown and the ball dropped to an unmarked Steven Reid, who shot low under the body of goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

Van Nistelrooy should have reclaimed the lead five minutes before halftime when Georgian defender Zurab Khizanishvili was judged to have handled the ball. But Friedel dived to his right to push away the Dutchman's penalty attempt.

There was trouble as the two teams left the field at halftime when Rovers' midfielder Robbie Savage appeared to make a comment to Rio Ferdinand as he ran past him. The United defender chased the Welshman into the tunnel along with several more United players.

Friedel made another stunning save to frustrate Van Nistelrooy early in the second half, diving to his left to fingertip the striker's well-placed header round the post.

But the American was beaten again two minutes later when Turkish midfielder Kerimoglu Tugay lost the ball in his own half and Rooney's sideways pass found Saha, who curled in an 18-meter shot for his fifth goal in four games.

Friedel blocked another Van Nistelrooy shot which was followed by a low drive from Rooney as United created more chances.

United gave Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic his first taste of English soccer by sending the new signing on for Van Nistelrooy with five minutes remaining.

Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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we were up to 2am last nite watching eurotrip... god i love that movie. i love how the soccer hooligans in the movie are all man u fans hahaha. like any self respecting manc is gonna be caught in london lol.

i was with about 30,000 of them in london.

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we were up to 2am last nite watching eurotrip... god i love that movie. i love how the soccer hooligans in the movie are all man u fans hahaha. like any self respecting manc is gonna be caught in london lol.

i haven't seen it. I've seen Road Trip and that one cracks me up. But I love Breckin Meyer :love2:

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dood - hibernian play in the scottish league.

too bad wimbledon is not around any more- talk about a team that was a bunch of thugs in the 1980's and almost always overachieved.

vj_pg_big.jpg

vinnie jones with wimbledon and paul gascoigne on the recieving end.

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