It had to happen.

A flag was unfurled in the visitors end - it read "Galatasaray Reds"

That sums them up.

Leeds fans rather than ignoring it began singing the full repertoire of
Munich songs. The bloke in front of me snapped his seat in frustration.
The same man hurled coins at Beckham as took a corner in front of us in
the 2nd half. These things you don't see on TV. This game is like no
other. Pure hatred.

Leeds outclassed Man U today. To be more specific we outclassed them in
midfield. Without Roy Keane and Giggs and with the 1 dimensional Beckham
having been sussed out - the Red midfield could not cope with the work
rate, fight and stamina of Bowyer, Dacourt and Batty.

Keane was a live wire - popping up all over the place and pouncing back
on any back passes the Man U defence were forced into. Barthez was
living a charmed life.

Viduka after a slow start realised he had to get physical with Stam if
he was going to survive. He did quite well. For all the Leeds possession
though we seldom created any clear cut chances.

Close to half time, Harte challenged Farthez for a cross and the bald
French twit dropped the ball which was cleared to safety. Affronted by
Harte's attempt to win the ball the Bald Twit lashed out at Harte and
kicked him to the ground. I saw it all. The ref clearly didn't. The
linesman pretended he hadn't. It was a certain red card, an absolute
certainty. Between them the officials bottled it. Yellow card.

Harte took the penalty but agonisingly could not convert it. I hid in
the bogs while the Mancs/Cockneys celebrated.

2 half saw Kewell replace Matteo and Smith come on , somewhat
surprisingly, for Robbie Keane.

Leeds continued to dominate the possession but they seemed to lack any
finesse with Keane having departed. Smithy looked lost.

Against the run of play Man U took the lead. The spawny gets. A good
move by the reds saw 7yr old Solskjaer released and his tame shot from
the edge of the box somehow bounced out of Martyn's grasp and Pluke
Chadwick tucked the rebound into an empty net. The defence were all over
the shop. Mills had not tracked back but Martyn's error was cruel on
Leeds.

Leeds stepped up another gear and Smithy became an inspiration. He ran
the Man U defence ragged. Kewell ran at Gary Neville and to be fair the
English full back handled him quite well. The Aussie did have a fair
amount of joy but his crosses tantalisingly eluded the Leeds forwards.

Just as it seemed Man U were going to perform the ultimate smash and
grab (one shot on target, one goal) Leeds brought the house down with a
splendid equaliser. Mills galloped down the right and his cross was
flicked on by Bowyer and nodded forcefully home but Viduka at full
stretch. Farthez stood there like the lemon he is.

In injury time Leeds had the ball in the net again. Half the Leeds fans
thought it was a goal - I'd seen the flag go up so didn't join in the
wild, if premature celebrations. Oh how we deserved it but the Linesman
had spotted an offside or two. He was considerably nearer than me so I
wouldn't like to comment on the cheating, scum lover's decision to deny
us a sweet victory.

We didn't win but is was a huge moral victory for Leeds who taunted the
Galatasaray and Cockney Reds with "what's it like to be outclassed ?"
Even they would admit it.

I have never seen Man U cause us so little problems. One shot and 3
corners. Champions - yes, World beaters - no.

I am mentally and physically drained from this game. Great
entertainment, a superb (if extremely nasty) atmosphere and a
magnificent performance from the lads.

Martyn 5 - eek !

Mills 6.5 Chadwick made him look a mug on occasions but did well for
our goal

Harte 6 Dopey sod !

Rio 7.5 \
--- did very well but fell asleep for their goal
Rads 7.5 /

Batty, Dacourt 9 - Simply the best.

Bowyer 8 - blood and guts display.

Matteo 7 - kept B*ckham quiet 1st half

Viduka 8 - storming header and did well against the imposing and
supposedly impassable Stam

Keane 7.5 - Full of beans but farted too loudly at half time and got
taken off.

subs

Smiffy 7.5 - slow start but was magnificent by the end

Kewell 7 - Eased back gently, Neville is no mug (am i the only person
who thinks Neville is actually quite good ?) and Kewell did one cross
with his right foot round the back of his left foot. Unreal.

--
stotty

http://www.astott.demon.co.uk

(LUFC match reports, cartoons, and Flash movies)