Van Der Sar the hero as United win Community Shield

Edwin Van Der Sar saved three straight penalty shootouts to hand Manchester United the FA Community Shield trophy, beating Chelsea 3-0 on penalties after a 1-1 full-time draw in the new Wembley Stadium on Sunday. <br>

كتب : Omar AbdelAziz

الأحد، 05 أغسطس 2007 - 19:43
United win their first trophy this season
Edwin Van Der Sar saved three straight penalty shootouts to hand Manchester United the FA Community Shield trophy, beating Chelsea 3-0 on penalties after a 1-1 full-time draw in the new Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

The Dutch guardian thwarted misfiring Blues' trio Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Philips, as Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney made no mistake from the spot.

The Premiership champions grabbed their first trophy of the 2007-2008 season and avenged last season's FA Cup final defeat against the Blues.

Ryan Giggs' 35th minute strike for United was cancelled out by Chelsea's new boy Florent Malouda just before half-time.

Chelsea were frustrated to enter the game without skipper John Terry and Premiership top scorer Didier Drogba, as the duo was sidelined by injury, while United missed new signing Owen Hargreaves.

Ten minutes from the break, Patrice Evra and Cristiano Ronaldo combined magnificently on the left flank as Evra cleverly found Giggs, who blazed the ball into the top corner from twelve yards.

Chelsea replied quickly as Malouda did well to beat Ferdinand in the air before steering home with a fine finish past Van Der Sar.

However, the France winger had no chance to celebrate his debut goal for the Blues as Van Der Sar's late challenge left him anguished on the ground.

Consequently, Jose Mourinho opted to take him off five minutes into the second half, in favor of ex-Bayern Munich man Pizarro.