Burton Albion

0-0

Manchester United

 

 

 


The FA Cup Third Round Proper
The Pirelli Stadium
Sunday 8 January 2006
Winning clubs receive £40,000




Burton Albion produced the performance of a lifetime to hold Manchester United to a goalless draw in a classic FA Cup tie at The Pirelli Stadium.

Despite the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo taking on the Conference side, it was Burton who receive all the plaudits for a breathtaking display of courage and conviction in both defence and attack.

They had to rely on goalkeeper Saul Deeney to produce a phenomenal injury-time stop from Richard Jones to deny United victory with practically the last kick of the game. 

Burton player-manager Nigel Clough was surprisingly calm after the match, admitting that his side were unfortunate not to emerge victorious.

He said: "We matched them and probably were the better team in the first half, then in the second half we were under the cosh a bit and they got close to their top form.

"With a possible penalty in the second half and a few headers in the first half, we could well have gone through.

"Rooney and Ronaldo gave us some problems and Saul produced an excellent save at the end."

Speaking of his father Brian, Nigel admitted: "He would have been pleased that we could keep a clean sheet in the game, I'm sure of that.

"At the end there I had no thoughts of bringing myself on from the bench, it was too tight!"

It was Burton who showed the early confidence but the first clear chance came to Louis Saha whose shot was well blocked.

From there Burton went up the other end and won a corner following a clearance by Pique. From the corner that followed Phil Bardsley cleared off the line from a free header by Jon Shaw.

Jake Sedgemore then flashed a volley wide moments later. Burton showed no signs of being overawed by their illustrious opponents in the opening exchanges, perhaps creating the greater problems for United's backline than they endured.

With the 6,000 capacity crowd in fine voice there seemed nothing to choose between the two clubs separated by more than a hundred places in the league system.

Returning for a first start in United colours in nearly two years, captain for the day Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked distinctly off the pace.

And despite featuring the experienced pairing of Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre the Red Devils looked suspiciously nervous when the likes of Keith Gilroy and Darren Stride ran at the United backline, with an uneven surface causing added confusion.

Sir Alex Ferguson reflected after the game that he was pleased to get a replay following the nature of the game.

He said: "Our disappointment will be reflected in a number of ways, but when you look at the nature of the game and the pitch we can be pleased to draw the game.

"It is the nature of this fantastic competition that whenever they attacked they looked like they could make something happen.

"I can't deny Burton a fantastic result for them. We seem to be good at saving teams financially, last year it was Exeter and this year it is Burton's turn."

There was superb play from Burton as Chris Hall stole the ball from England international Kieran Richardson and then put the ball through the young winger's legs. His pass found Shaun Harrad whose fine volley was well saved by Tim Howard.

United burst into live after 35 minutes when Phillip Bardsley played a superb one-two with Solskjaer and took the return on the volley, his effort just inches over the bar.

Shaw turned Pique with moments of the half remaining, only to be bailed out by Brown. From the resulting corner it was Bardsley once more who was forced to turn the ball off the line.

With Sir Alex Ferguson's team talk ringing in their ears, and Rooney warming up on the sidelines, United stepped up their game to an extent, with Richardson going close after a strong run.

With less than a quarter of an hour played in the second period, Sir Alex decided he had waited long enough and sent on Rooney and Christiano Ronaldo for Solskjaer and Rossi.

With the game opening up, there was a sense that a goal was forthcoming. Saha should have put United ahead but a bad touch let the simple chance get away from him.

Deeney then denied Rooney from close range after the England star shrugged off the attentions of Shaw.

United were fortunate not to concede a penalty with 20 minutes to play when the ball struck the hand of Pique. Referee Howard Webb gave a foul against the Albion forward.

To watch The FA Cup Fourth Round draw, that will feature Burton Albion, live from Soho Square at 1.30pm on Monday, click here.

Burton Albion: S Deeney, J Sedgemore, D Tinson, R Austin, A Corbett, C Hall (Todd 90), D Stride, A Ducros, K Gilroy, J Shaw, S Harrad (80 D Anderson)

Subs not used: T Henshaw, M Taylor, N Clough

Man Utd: T Howard, W Brown, G Pique, M Silvestre, P Bardsley, J O'Shea, R Jones, K Richardson, O Solskjaer (59 C Ronaldo) , L Saha, G Rossi (58 W Rooney)

Subs not used: L Steele, A Eckersley, F Campbell

Referee: Howard Webb

Attendance: 6,191

In the days other games Sunderland reached the FA Cup fourth round with a comfortable win over Conference North side Northwich.

The Black Cats went ahead after just six minutes when defender Neill Collins blasted in after Northwich had failed to get the ball clear.

Northwich were twice denied by Sunderland keeper Kelvin Davis before Dean Whitehead sidefooted home after being set up by Jon Stead.

Anthony Le Tallec tapped in a third as Northwich's FA Cup run came to an end.

Fulham became the first Premiership side to go out of The FA Cup, as Leyton Orient punished their London rivals.

Glyn Garner saved a second-half penalty from Collins John to help give Orient the shock win over Fulham.

Tomasz Radzinski had a goal ruled out for the Premiership side before goals from Craig Easton and Joe Keith put League Two Orient firmly in charge.

Having scored just after the restart, John was gifted a chance for his second from the penalty spot after a foul on Luis Boa Morte, but Garner kept it out.