Saturday, November 17, 2001

 Manchester United 2 - 0 Leicester City
Source : BBCSport

Fabien Barthez indulged in some Manchester United mind games as Leicester were beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his ninth of the season and Dwight Yorke netted his first goal since April as United rose to third in the Premiership.

But it was their keeper, whose eccentricities have cost his side dear in recent games, who once again played a pivotal role in the result.

His mind games with Muzzy Izzet saw the Leicester midfielder miss a crucial first-half penalty.

Izzet could have levelled the scores just seconds after United had taken the lead through Van Nistelrooy's header from a sweetly-struck David Beckham cross.

The miss proved crucial and United went on wrap up a comfortable victory.

Barthez looked to be having one of his oddball days when he nearly presented Leicester Adi Akinbiyi with an open goal in the first minute of the match.

But the Leicester striker could not control the ball.

Twenty minutes later, Barthez was back in the spotlight when Laurent Blanc brought down Trevor Benjamin in the box.

But as Izzet ran up to strike the ball, Barthez walked away to make a show of wiping some barely-visible mud from his boots.

Izzet had the ball in the back of the net, but referee Andy D'Urso ordered it to be re-taken.

This time Barthez was ready - and guessing correctly he managed to palm the ball onto the post where it rebounded clear.

The visiting fans were incensed at what they perceived as unsporting behaviour from the United keeper.

Leicester manager Dave Bassett opted to make a change at half-time, giving new £400,000 signing Alan Rogers his debut at left-back.

Manchester United: Barthez, G Neville, Brown, Blanc, Irwin, Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Yorke, (Silvestre 45), (Fortune 64)

Subs Not Used: Carrol, Butt, Solskjaer

Goals: van Nistelrooy 21, Yorke 50

Leicester: Walker, Stewart, Sinclair, Elliott, Davidson, Impey, Marshall, Izzet, Wise, Benjamin, Akinbiyi (Rogers 45), (Scowcroft 56)

Subs Not Used: Royce, Heath, Jones

Goals:

Referee: A D'Urso

Att. 67, 651