Prized/Friendly Cup

La Bombonera
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Paavo Salmela got the match started through his kick off. 4 minutes into the match, Sporting de Gijón's goal looked a bit too open when Ruud van Nistelrooij came free, but Fausto George reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. With a little luck, Manchester United FC's Juha Jokiranta got control of the ball when Eloy Timo tried to sneak it across the goal line. Sporting de Gijón's Fausto George played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Ruud van Nistelrooij in the 18th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Eloy Timo in the 24th minute of play forced Manchester United FC's goalkeeper Juha Jokiranta to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 27th minute, Sporting de Gijón's Eloy Timo ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Juha Jokiranta. Juha Jokiranta yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 1-0. An unexpectedly hard shot by Paavo Salmela in the 32nd minute of play forced Sporting de Gijón's goalkeeper Fausto George to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If Ruud van Nistelrooij had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 42nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Jarkko Sulin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 43rd minute. Fausto George tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Sporting de Gijón's Fausto George played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Paavo Salmela in the 46th minute of play. Sporting de Gijón's Mauro Perez was substituted for Omar Etor. After 48 played minutes Manchester United FC got a freekick which was hit by Pirkka Rautee. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 1-0.

Fausto George showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ruud van Nistelrooij in the 54th minute of the match. 55 minutes had been played when some careless play by Sporting de Gijón's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Jarkko Sulin was slow to take the kick. During this time Manchester United FC's players had a chance to rest. A nice corner shot did that Jarkko Sulin got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Fausto George quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. After 64 minutes, Aatto Hänninen mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Manchester United FC and the Sporting de Gijón players grew even worse after the yellow card. Manchester United FC's Kuisma Kokkonen was substituted for Aatto Hänninen. The supporters of Sporting de Gijón booed when Manchester United FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 66 match minutes in a wonderful position. Aatto Hänninen didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 66th minute of the match Wilfredo Etxahun sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Juha Jokiranta skillfully saved the ball. If Ruud van Nistelrooij had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 69th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Sporting de Gijón made a substitution. Timoteo Eguntsenti replaced Cristian Medina. In the 73rd minute Ruud van Nistelrooij shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Fausto George saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. When Ruud van Nistelrooij came up free with the goalie in the 76th minute, the Manchester United FC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Ruud van Nistelrooij couldn't finish the play. Jarkko Sulin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 77th minute. Fausto George tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 85 minutes into the match, Wilfredo Etxahun notched a goal, 2-0, to the right of Manchester United FC's Juha Jokiranta. Juha Jokiranta was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Juha Jokiranta took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Wilfredo Etxahun, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 96thth minute of the game Mauro Perez who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Manchester United FC's Juha Jokiranta was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Sporting de Gijón's supporters were highly satisfied with the result. They cheered their team of the pitch, having watched them win a very even match.