desole, apres j´arrete ces resumes de 50 pages....
=>le resume officiel par le service de presse de manchester united....(notamment pr se7en qui a rate le match)
"Who would have thought it? Manchester United and Liverpool contesting the Worthington Cup final in front of a sell-out crowd in the Millennium Stadium.
The competition that seemed to have few friends at the start of the season and was a distant fourth in United´s list of priorities was suddenly thrust into the spotlight and generating stories of fans shelling out up to a £1,000 pounds for privilege of viewing the game in the flesh!
It´s certainly an amazing turnaround for the competition that in recent years has been the province of United´s wider squad and fringe players and seen the Reds eliminated almost unnoticed in the early rounds.
None of that today. Both teams were parading full strength teams, the fans were in good form as they gathered in the Welsh Capital and everyone wanted to win. Does it really matter whats at stake when its Manchester United against Liverpool.
Worthington, the Football League Cup´s sponsor for the past five years, could scarcely have expected a better send off than a finale between two of English football´s most famous and successful clubs.
The brewers´ sponsorship of the competition concluded at the end of today´s game and they couldn´t have wished for higher profile game to signal the end of their association. It´s twenty years since United´s other meeting with Liverpool in the League Cup final - in those days the Milk Cup - when the Mersey Reds took the trophy with a 2-1 win.
Cardiff-born Ryan Giggs, whose future continues to be the subject of many column inches in the papers, was making his 530 appearance for the club just five days after becoming United´s most loyal servant of the modern age. Last Tuesday´s sensational substitute outing against Juventus saw the Welsh Wizard pass Denis Irwin´s record of 528 games to take him into fifth place in the all-time United roll call. Four players from United glorious 1960s are now above him in the standings. Bobby Charlton, Bill Foulkes, Alex Stepney and Tony Dunne are illustrious names Giggsy has now joined in the top five.
No doubt about it the place was rocking as the teams took the field to greeted by fireworks and a wall of noise. Liverpool´s ´You´ll Never Walk Alone´ bellowed from one end of the stadium, incidently with its sliding roof closed, whilst United supporters packed at the other end did their best to drown out the Mersey Anthem.
United started their fifth League Cup final defending the behind which the vast majority of their supporters were housed. The pitch looked perfect but the Rugby lines from last week´s Wales/England international were still visible.
There was very little to choose between the two sides as the game began to tick over. The biggest roar of the early moments came from the Liverpool supporters after Gary Neville had taken a ball full in the face from Danny Murphy. Instant treatment from physio Robert Swire soon had the older Neville back on his feet.
The first chance of any quality fell to United in the 14th minute when Ruud van Nistelrooy played the ball into Giggs´ path. The Welshman had a clear shot at goal but Jerzy Dudek saved comfortably.
The same combination went even closer in the 22nd minute. Giggs crossed from the left, van Nistelrooy stretched out a leg and the ball missed Dudek´s left post by inches.
John Arne Riise had the Liverpool fans off their seats on the half hour with a left wing run that took him past Juan Sebastian Veron and Gary Neviile. It looked promising, but his shot carried little power and Fabien Barthez made an easy collection.
Five minutes later and Michael Owen weaved his way past a couple of United defenders, but he couldn´t get the better of Barthez and the ball went harmlessly past the post.
Liverpool had been taking the game to United and in the 39th minute they struck the game´s first major blow. There appeared to be little threat to United when Steven Gerrard tried his luck from some 30 yards out. It seemed that Barthez would be untroubled by the effort but it struck David Beckham on its route and flew over the keeper and into the net.
United did their best to hit back in the shortest possible time. In the very next attack they were really unlucky not to bag the equaliser. Both Veron and Scholes had shots cleared from the line, by Dudek and Stephane Henchoz respectively, but the danger passed and as the half-time whistle sounded it was the Liverpool supporters who wearing smiles on their faces.
The second half was barely a minute old when Owen was almost given the chance to increase Liverpool´s lead. The England striker managed to get the better of Wes Brown, but the United defender recovered instantly to reclaim the ball.
Liverpool opened the second half brightly and United´s defence were called on to deal with emergencies more than once. United, however, were slowly making their presence felt with Roy Keane and Veron starting to pull the strings.
Van Nistelrooy turned brilliantly on the hour to get in a shot from point-blank range, but Dudek made a fine reflex to keep his side in the lead.
Milan Baros, on for Emile Heskey, almost set-up Gerrard within seconds of taking the field but the England man couldn´t make the best of the opening.
Scholes had another shot saved by Dudek and Veron raced through only to be thwarted just as he was about to pull the trigger.
Overall, there was still nothing to choose between the two teams, but Liverpool remained in the driving seat thanks to Gerrard´s goal.
United supporters screamed for a penalty in the 35th minute when Scholes was decked in the area, but referee Paul Durkin walked away without comment.
Liverpool: Dudek; Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise; Gerrard, Hamann, Murphy; Diouf, Heskey ( Baros, 61); Owen. Subs not used: Smicer, Arphexad, Biscan, Traore.
United: Barthez; G Neville, Ferdinand, Brown ( Solskjaer, 74), Silvestre; Beckham, Keane, Veron, Giggs; Scholes; van Nistelrooy. Subs not used: P Neville, Butt, Carroll, Solskjaer, O´Shea. "
( Report by Cliff Butler.)
