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21 February 2007, by Sean Gillen

Cheeky Giggs goal gives United vital lead

Lille 0-1 Manchester United

Manchester United took a major step towards the quarter finals of the Champions League after Ryan Giggs’ late goal proved the difference on a controversial night in France.

The Lille coaching staff appeared to encourage their players to leave the pitch after the referee allowed Giggs’ quickly-taken free-kick to stand seven minutes from time, on an evening also marred by crowd problems.

Play was also briefly disrupted early on in the match after safety problems inside the over-crowded away stand containing the travelling United fans.

The match was a tight encounter, with the poor pitch doing little to help either side establish a good rhythm to their passing, and the first half saw few clear goalscoring opportunities.

United’s first sight of goal came when Scholes fed Rooney just inside the area and the young forward turned and shot wide of Sylva’s goal. The visitors went close once more before the break when the ball fell to Ronaldo inside the box, but he was denied by Debuchy’s excellent block.

The hosts did their best to harass and hurry United throughout, and at times Lille appeared the stronger side. However, aside from a low Bodmer shot that drifted past van Der Sar’s post, the Ligue 1 side rarely threatened the United goal in the first period.

Chances aplenty

The second half saw far more chances created by both sides. Rooney produced the first, beating three men before his cross narrowly evaded Giggs at the far post. The England striker then created an excellent opportunity for Ronaldo. The Portuguese latched on to Rooney’s throughball but after powering away from Tafforeau, fired straight at Sylva.

United suffered an uncomfortable spell fifteen minutes into the second half, and Lille’s best opportunity of the game came in that period. Bodmer latched onto a flick-on but could not beat van Der Sar from ten metres as the big Dutchman stuck out a leg to make the save.

The first contentious moment of the match came when Lille thought they had taken the lead, only for referee Eric Braamhaar to disallow the goal. Peter Odemwingie headed home Chalme’s cross, but an early whistle penalised the Nigerian for a push on United defender Nemanja Vidic.

Out-of-sorts Ronaldo subbed

Ronaldo, like many of his team-mates, struggled to make a real impact on the game. He was substituted with over twenty minutes left, and was visibly disappointed with the decision, although an injury may have been the cause as he immediately applied an icepack on his foot.

Saha missed a good chance almost immediately after coming on, while Henrik Larsson chipped over the bar when presented with a sight of goal. Meanwhile, Odemwingie curled a left-footed effort wide of the far post for Lille.

The crucial moment in the game arrived in the 83rd minute as United made the breakthrough. A foul on Saha earned the visitors a free-kick twenty metres from goal and, after communicating with the referee, Giggs curled the ball into the corner as Lille were assembling their wall.

Ugly scenes followed and, after furious protests during which Sylva was booked, members of Lille’s coaching staff seemed to instruct their players to leave the field, with several arguments ensuing between officials and players and coaches of both sides.

United successfully ran the clock down amidst a flurry of objects being thrown by the home crowd, and the Red Devils take a precious lead back to Manchester for the second leg at Old Trafford in two weeks time.

Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager)

“I’ve never seen that, it was complete intimidation of the referee. UEFA have to do something about it. The Lille coaching staff intimidated the referee and it created this hostile atmosphere.

“UEFA will come down strongly. I was worried because there were missiles being thrown and Gary Neville was hit.”

Claude Puel (Lille manager)

“I would like to underline the fact that the players never intended to leave the field. In France, our way of expressing our complaint is when the ball is next out of play.

“There were two dubious decisions during the game we could’ve done without. We had one goal disallowed and then a free-kick like that. It was a real shame. We didn’t deserve that.

“I have heard this before from Sir Alex Ferguson because he likes to influence the referee. He is trying to create a situation for us.”

Ryan Giggs (Manchester United goalscorer)

“The referee said to me “Do you want the whistle?” I said no, and then I told Wayne (Rooney) to put the ball down and I hit it into the empty net. It was as simple as that. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Efstathios Tavlaridis (Lille defender)

“We paid because we are a small club in Europe. If that had happened to Manchester, our player would have got a yellow card and I’m sure the goal would have been cancelled.”

Lille:
Sylva, Chalme, Plestan, Tavlaridis, Tafforeau, Debuchy, Bodmer, Makoun, Obraniak (Michel Bastos 89), Fauvergue (Cabaye 57), Odemwingie (Audel 75)
Yellow Cards: Fauvergue (4), Debuchy (27), Sylva (84)

Man Utd:
Van der Sar, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo (Saha 67), Carrick, Scholes (O’Shea 90), Giggs, Rooney, Larsson
Yellow Cards: Evra (15), Vidic (30)

Goals:
[0-1] Giggs, 83