Man United sneak past luckless Crewe
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer broke the deadlock
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Wednesday, 25, Oct 2006 10:45
Sir Alex Ferguson beat Dario Gradi in the battle of the veterans as his Manchester United side beat Crewe 2-1 in the Carling Cup, albeit via extra time.
The League One side nearly took the lead after 15 minutes of the first half only to find that Luke Varney had rightly been adjudged offside.
United had made 11 changes from the side that beat Liverpool 2-0 on Sunday and the wholesale changes took their toll as Crewe had the best of the opening exchanges.
However the premiership side got their noses in front half way through the first half through Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Norwegian arrived late in the box and met 20 year-old Ritchie Jones' right-wing cross, rifling a left footed shot in to the bottom right hand corner.
The Premiership outfit then bossed the game in appalling conditions through the rest of the firs- half and in most of the second, keeping their lower division opponents at arms length.
But Varney then equalised sending the home crowd into pandemonium, his right footed shot meeting Nicky Maynard's cross from the left on 72 minutes.
It was a reward for all of Crewe's persistence and they were able to see out the remainder of the half to take it to extra time despite Kieran Richardson missing a gilt-edged chance towards the end of normal time that could have sealed a win.
The heart breaking winner came in the last minute of extra time from 18 year-old Kieran Lee.
His shot from the edge of the box came after great work from Alan Smith who worked tirelessly all night in a game that marked his return from a serious knee injury.