Haifa make United pay the price for inexperience

Maccabi Haifa 3 Manchester United

A vastly under-strength Manchester United side were humbled here last night as Maccabi Haifa ended the English side's 16-match unbeaten Champions' League run. Yaniv Katan put the home side in front with a fearsome strike before the interval and, after Diego Forlan had struck the crossbar, Raimondas Zutautas repeated the feat after 56 minutes. United battled hard but Yakubu Ayegbeni completed their misery when he tucked home a penalty after Ricardo had brought down Zutautas.

With qualification already assured after victories in their opening four Group F matches, a combination of injury and tiredness saw nine key figures left at home, including Roy Keane, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy. As a result, the United manager, Alex Ferguson, was left with a squad bereft of experience.

Ferguson admitted: "It was a fair result; they had two fantastic strikes. It was a bit disappointing in the second half because I thought in the first half we played well, but it was a bad night for us in the second half."

Eighteen-year-old Kieran Richardson was given his first United start, and Ferguson was full of praise for him. "I think Kieran had a terrific debut, he has done very well."

The Spanish goalkeeper Ricardo also made his first start, deputising for Fabien Barthez. The United substitutes' bench included just two men who had started more than two first-team games in their entire career, with the 17-year-old striker Mads Timms in the squad for the first time.

The side was captained by Gary Neville, who also had the added responsibility of calming his team ahead of their appearance in the surreal atmosphere of the GSP Stadium. Around 8,000 Israelis had made the 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv, passing through an intimidating mixture of armed police and security guards to gain entrance to the ground. However, the "home" contingent were outnumbered by a United following which included a mass of Cypriot-based Red Devils.

While United's entrance into the last 16 was already secured, Maccabi still had outside hopes of making the second group stage. Victory was imperative, though, and they were bolstered by the inclusion of the Nigerian front man Yakubu Ayegbeni, who missed the 5-2 defeat at Old Trafford through suspension but returned to score a hat-trick in the following game against Olympiakos.

Richardson started on the left-hand side of United's midfield, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the right, Quinton Fortune in a central position and Paul Scholes providing the attacking support to Diego Forlan. It worked in the opening stages, though, with Fortune playing some penetrating passes.

Ricardo produced a valuable stop with his feet when Giovani Rosso, having slipped past Mikaël Silvestre, unleashed a shot which deflected goalwards off John O'Shea. Fortunately for the visitors, Silvestre was there to hook the rebound to safety.

Ricardo's reactions were tested again when Walid Badir missed Avishay Zano's rolled ball into the area, Ayegbeni lashing in a close-range shot which Ricardo saved with his chest. It proved to be a brief respite for United, though, as Katan, picking the ball up 40 yards out, sidestepped O'Shea and let fly with a vicious dipping shot which flew under the bar.

Within a minute, United's task had doubled. A Maccabi counter-attack appeared to be heading nowhere when Katan turned the ball inside. Zutautas was presented with possession, and stormed forward with purpose, striking a drive which was almost a replica of Katan's earlier effort, flying into the top corner.

Worse was to follow, 14 minutes from time, when Ricardo seemed slow reacting to Katan's through ball and chopped down Zutautas. The Maccabi man was still receiving treatment behind the goal-line when Ayegbeni stepped up to send the United keeper the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Maccabi Haifa: Awat; Zutautas (Zandberg, 81), Harazi, Benado, Badir, Keise, Ayegbeni (Almoshnino, 84) Rosso, Zano, Katan, Pralija. Substitutes not used: Almadon, Sevilia, Cohen, Israilevich, Gabarin.

Manchester United: Ricardo; G Neville, Silvestre, Ferdinand, O'Shea, P Neville, Scholes, Fortune, Richardson (Nardiello, 61), Solskjaer, Forlan (Timms, 89). Substitutes not used: Carroll, May, Pugh, Roche, Lynch.

Referee: A J Lopez Nieto (Spain).