Haifa stuns Manchester

By Ofer Ronen-Abels
October 30, 2002
Jerusalem Post

In one of its greatest results ever, Maccabi Haifa beat a 
depleted Manchester United side, 3-0 at GSP Stadium on 
Tuesday night on goals from Yaniv Katan, Raimondas Zutautas, 
and a penalty by Ayegbini Ya'akoubu. 

Haifa's second win in the group stage puts them three points 
ahead of their next opponent, Olympiakos Piraeus (November 13th), 
and increases their chances of earning a UEFA Cup berth by 
finishing third in Group F. Having beaten the Greeks, 3-0 in 
Nicosia, the Haifaites' remarkable European campaign would end 
only with a defeat by four goals or more. 

Bayer Leverkusen defeated Olympiakos, 2-0 in the night's other 
Group F match, putting them through to the second round. 

In addition to the revenue from the 20,000 fans who filled GSP 
Stadium on Tuesday, the club is set to pocket another 500,000-Swiss 
franc bonus for their victory. 

Haifa's coach Yitzhak Schum made one change in the side that 
lost, 2-1 to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany last week, as Yaniv 
Katan replaced Michael Zandberg. 

Giovani Rosso, who was deployed on the left wing, danced past 
three United defenders as he broke into the area eight minutes 
from the start. The Croat tried firing a low drive past Ricardo 
only to see the Spanish keeper save with his feet. A minute 
later, Dudu Awat denied Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from breaking the 
deadlock with an identical save, as the Norwegian who was 
released by Paul Scholes found himself unmarked inside Haifa's 
area. 

In the 29th minute, Scholes tested Awat with a long-range effort 
that the keeper tipped for a corner. Four minutes later, 
John O'Shea fouled Ya'akoubu on his way to the goal and was 
booked as a result. Adoram Keisi curled the free kick over the 
wall, but the ball sailed over the crossbar. 

United's ability to use counterattacks almost cost Haifa a goal 
in the 37th minute, but 18-year-old Kieran Richardson's shot 
deflected off Avishai Zano for a corner. The Haifaites managed 
to beat Ricardo in the 40th minute as Walid Badier mishit a shot 
that was flicked by Ya'akoubu before Rio Ferdinand cleared the 
ball of the line. 

Less than sixty seconds later however, Katan found the back of 
the net with a powerful drive to thrill the 11,000 Haifa fans. 
Katan, who scored Haifa's opening goal in the 5-2 defeat at 
Old Trafford, shook off O'Shea before catching Ricardo off his 
line with a right-foot rocket that sailed into the top corner. 

As opposed to their first meeting on September 18, when Ryan 
Giggs leveled the score a minute later, Haifa managed to hang 
onto their lead until Lopez Nieto blew his whistle for halftime. 

Eight minutes after the restart, Scholes combined well with 
Quinton Fortune, passing to Diego Forlan, who rattled Awat's 
crossbar with a delicate chip. But Haifa kept on playing in 
the same solid way that gave them the lead in the first period. 

Zutautas and Badier dominated the midfield of Phil Neville and 
Fortune while Arik Benado and Alon Harazi kept Solskjaer and 
Scholes at bay. 

In the 56th minute, Zutautas doubled Haifa's lead with a strike 
that will compete as one of best goals of the competition. 
The Lithuanian captain was given the time and space by United's 
defense to blast an unstoppable left-foot shot that left 
Ricardo no chance. 

Manchester coach Alex Ferguson introduced Daniel Mardiello for 
Richardson in the 62nd minute but, 15 minutes from time, Haifa 
increased their lead to 3-0. Badier's clever through ball 
released Zutautas, who controled the ball well before being 
charged inside the area by Ricardo. Ya'akoubu, who scored a 
penalty in the 3-0 win against Olympiakos, sent Ricardo the 
wrong way for Haifa's third. Zutautas limped off with an 
injury and was replaced by Zandberg for the final nine minutes. 
Ya'akoubu was also given a chance to step down to a standing 
ovation, as he was replaced by Eyal Almoshnino. 

Maccabi Haifa: Dudu Awat, Avishai Zano, Arik Benado, Alon Harazi, 
Adoram Keisi, Walid Badier, Raimondas Zutautas (Michael Zandberg 
81), Nenad Pralija, Giovani Rosso, Yaniv Katan, Ayegbini 
Ya'akoubu (Eyal Almoshnino 84). 

Manchester United: Ricardo Lopez Felipe, Gary Neville, 
Rio Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Mickael Silvestre 
(Daniel Mardiello 62), Kieran Richardson, Philip Neville, 
Quinton Fortune, Paul Scholes, Diego Forlan (Mads Timm 79), 
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.