United's 40-year European record shattered


(c) 1996 Copyright Nando.net
(c) 1996 Reuter Information Service

MANCHESTER, England (Oct 30, 1996 - 19:12 EST) - Manchester United's proud
40-year-old record of never having lost at home in European competition was 
shattered on Wednesday when Turkey's Fenerbahce emerged from Old Trafford 
with a 1-0 victory.

United, who had played 26 European Cup ties without defeat in Manchester as
well as dozens of UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup matches, dominated much of 
the Champions' League Group C match without ever playing to their full
potential.

They were punished after 78 minutes when Elvir Bolic broke down the left,
making a rare Fenerbahce foray into United territory, and unleashed a hopeful shot from 25 metres.

The ball ricocheted off the shin of David May, looped over a static Peter
Schmeichel in the United goal and nestled in the back of the net.

United -- Schmeichel included -- poured forward in the remaining quarter of
an hour in search of an equaliser, but the Turks, who had resisted stubbornly 
throughout, held on to claim a historic victory which rekindles their hopes 
of qualification for the European Cup quarter-finals.

"It's a sad way to end a record with a stupid deflected goal like that,"
said United legend Bobby Charlton, veteran of the Reds' finest European 
hour in 1968, when they lifted their solitary European Cup. "Forty years. 
That's a sensational record.


"This is a night we won't ever be allowed to forget," admitted manager Alex
Ferguson. "Our intention now has to be to beat Juventus in three weeks."

Bolic's goal ensured a dramatic end to a match that started dismally. The
first half was scrappy with neither side playing with any fluency, particularly
around their opponents' penalty area.

Fenerbahce's Senturk Kemalettin had the best chance of the half, pouncing on
a loose ball in the United area after 13 minutes and rifling a close-range 
volley over Schmeichel's crossbar.

At the other end Eric Cantona and David Beckham squandered half-chances but
Ferguson's men were not reading each other and failed to create any real 
goal-scoring chances.

As the half limped to a close, the visiting fans entertained themselves by
taunting the Stretford End with chants of Newcastle and Southampton -- the 
two premier league sides which between them put 11 goals past United in the 
last fortnight.

United improved after the interval and, just before the hour, Karel Poborsky
put Nicky Butt clean through on goal for United's best chance of the night.
But the 21-year-old hit his shot straight at Rustu Recber, and Jordi Cruyff 
and Butt failed to turn in the loose ball. 

Ferguson made a double-substitution in an attempt to break the deadlock,
bringing on Paul Scholes for Poborsky and Ole Solskaer for Cruyff.


The switch almost reaped immediate dividends when Scholes swung in a cross
from the United right which floated over Rustu and bounced off the top of 
the Fenerbahce crossbar.

Yet just when it seemed a United winner was on the horizon, Bolic struck,
stunning the vast majority of the 53,000 strong crowd who witnessed the end 
of an era.

Teams:

Manchester United - 1-Peter Schmeichel, 2-Gary Neville, 3- Denis Irwin,
4-David May, 5-Ronny Johnsen, 7-Eric
Cantona (captain), 8-Nicky Butt, 10-David Beckham, 14-Jordi Cruyff (20- Ole
Solskjaer), 15-Karel Poborsky
(12-Paul Scholes 64th), 16-Roy Keane.

Fenerbahce - 1-Rustu Recber (captain), 2-Ilker Yagcioglu, 3-Uche Okechukwu,
4-Jes Hogh, 5-Kemalettin Senturk,
8-Tuncay Agcun (17-Mustafa Dogan 68th), 9-Elvir Bolic, 10-Augustine "Jay
Jay" Okocha, 11-Emil Kostadinov,
14-Saffet Akbas, 15-Erol Bulut.