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Careless United are caught out by Nolan

Manchester United 0 Bolton Wanderers 1

Nick Harris
Thursday 12 September 2002 00:00 BST
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If the sound of champagne corks popping at Highbury could not quite be heard at Old Trafford last night, Manchester United's defeat at the hands of Kevin Nolan's opportune goal, laid on by a sloppy David Beckham error, will at least have raised a cheer among Arsenal fans.

The Londoners wake this morning not only as sole leaders of the Premiership but bolstered by the knowledge that United's frailties of last season have yet to be eradicated. To lose once at home in the Premiership to Bolton, as United did last season, might have been unfortunate. To do it twice in a row smacks of carelessness.

In the absence of Sir Alex Ferguson in the post-match interview room, it was left to Phil Neville to be the first to admit as much. "With our play in the final third we didn't deserve to win," he said. "And we've got to win our home games against the likes of Bolton [if we want to win the title]."

The defender's parting comments will hardly have echoed merrily in Ferguson's ears. "This time last year we lost to Bolton," Neville said. "And it was a sign of things to come."

United must also contend in the coming six weeks with the continued absence of Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, who both missed last night's defeat after hip and knee surgery respectively. Ferguson used his programme notes to hint that his patience with Keane has been sorely tested, but insisted he was right to exploit his captain's upcoming ban to allow him under the knife.

"Some of [the recent hostility towards United] is of our own making, with Roy Keane providing more ammunition," Ferguson said. "[But] would any manager seriously let a player serve a suspension and then send him into hospital?"

In the absence of Keane and Scholes, Juan Veron and Nicky Butt began as the central midfield partnership against a Bolton side with five stretched across the middle behind a lone striker, Michael Ricketts.

On the break this allowed the visitors' Youri Djorkaeff and Henrik Pedersen to sweep in from the flanks to distract United's defence as Ricketts dropped deeper to pick up the ball. The first clear chance materialised thus in the 28th minute, with Ricketts collecting and distributing to Pedersen, who had outpaced Laurent Blanc to nip behind. A reasonable curler was duly dispatched towards the right post but Fabien Barthez did well to push it round.

At the other end Jussi Jaaskelainen needed quick reflexes to tip Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 34th-minute header over the bar. Five minutes later he was stranded as Ruud Van Nistelrooy hammered a shot against the underside of the bar and then claimed it had crossed the line. The linesman was right to decree it had not.

Bolton countered, with Simon Charlton influential more than once. United came back at them, although a long-range shot way over the bar and two headers, all from Veron, earned nothing but cries of "What a waste of money" from the travelling fans. In fairness, the Argentinian's chances were hardly easy but he was not to be spared any minor mishap and as he was increasingly jeered by the Bolton fans his touch wavered.

Some sporadically neat interplay between Beckham and Ryan Giggs looked dangerous before it was crowded out, while a couple of free-kicks from Beckham promised more than they delivered.

On 77 minutes, the England captain was guilty of more than being unable to convert a chance. Failing to clear the ball with his chest, he instead knocked it down to Nolan, who pounced eagerly on his hosts' generosity.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Barthez 5; P Neville 4, Ferdinand 6, Blanc 4, Silvestre 6; Beckham 5, Butt 5, Veron 5 (Forlan, 76), Giggs 6; Van Nistelrooy 5, Solskjaer 4. Substitutes not used: Ricardo (gk), Stewart, O'Shea, Chadwick.

Bolton Wanderers (4-5-1): Jaaskelainen 6; Barness 5, Bergsson 6, Whitlow 5, Charlton 6; Djorkaeff 7 (Warhurst 5, 72), Frandsen 5 (Holdsworth, 86), Nolan 6, Gardner 5, Pedersen 5 (Campo, 90); Ricketts 6. Substitutes not used: Poole (gk), Warhurst, Walters.

Referee: G Barber (Hertfordshire) 7.

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