PENALTY KICKS
AC Milan 9
Man. U. 8
It was the most bizarre possible ending for yesterday’s Manchester United-AC Milan tilt, and in a way the most fitting.
A full 20 shots into penalty kicks, goalie Tim Howard, who played five-plus years with the MetroStars, was taking a shot instead of saving one. And when AC Milan goalkeeper Nelson Dida dove and used every inch of his 6-4 frame to deflect the shot, Milan edged United 9-8 on penalty kicks yesterday at the Meadowlands.
“Thank God Timmy missed; [Milan manager Carlo] Ancelotti and I were next,” said Sir Alex Ferguson.
“I’m just disappointed; happy it was over, but disappointed. It was a good shot, but a great save. I hadn’t taken one since North Brunswick High School,” said the 25-year-old Howard. “You practice every now and then, but just hope it never happens.”
The rousing game -complete with Andriy Shevchenko’s 90th-minute equalizer to knot the score at 1-1 -provided the drama in front of 74,511 that had been missing from this summer’s second ChampionsWorld Tour. Despite a hot, humid day, United and Milan put on a show.
And at the end of it, the Serie A champs -who’d given up late goals to lose to Juventus in last summer’s Italian Super Cup in their last trip to the Meadowlands -turned the tables to rally against United. The Red Devils finished their tour winless, losing two of three on penalty kicks.
After being booed off Soldier Field in last weekend’s lackluster loss to Bayern Munich, Ferguson called in reinforcements. Paul Scholes arrived Thursday and scored in the 33rd minute, blasting home an attempted backheel clearance by defender Alesandro Nesta.
Howard made four saves, including a brilliant stop in the 65th minute to stone Hernan Crespo’s backheel flick from point-blank range. It was just one of a host of world-class plays from both sides.
United defender Wes Brown was called for questionable foul on a Crespo flop three yards to the left of the box, setting up the dangerous set piece. Kaka curled the ball in, deflecting off Paolo Maldini and onto the right foot of Shevchenko, who slotted it past Howard.
“You know all it takes is one shot, silly foul, and it happened,” Howard said. “It’s disappointing.”
They went on to penalty kicks, and were deadeye, putting home 17 of 20. Dada went to his left to beat Howard to make it 7-6, and minutes later, Jonathan Spector -an 18-year-old defender from Arlington Heights who made his first full appearance with United in Chicago -deferred to Howard.
“I was hoping he’d take it,” Howard said wanly. “I figured he’d take it, but I guess I’m the elder statesman.”
