Charlton 0 - 3 Manchester United
Wednesday 23rd August 2006
The Valley, London
This was supposed to be it - the game when Cristiano Ronaldo broke under the pressure of the away fans, the game he got sent off for impetuous behaviour following a booing at his every touch of the ball, the ame when he would feel like the whole world was against him. This was supposed to be it, but it wasn't.
Cristiano Ronaldo is too strong to merely 'break', and showed the mental strength of a proverbial Ox when he came through Wednesday's test with flying colours. Not only did he nt let the booing get to him, he actually became a better player as he responded to the fans by hitting them where it hurts with his twinkle-toed feet!
Ronaldo may have been jeered for the first ten minutes, and a large cheer went up when he shot wide, but by half-time, having seen his beautiful free-kick crash off the cross-bar, Charlton fans should have started to feel uneasy.
Fletcher grabbed the first without Ronny's help - Park cut the ball back into the area and the young Scot was able to guide the ball home without too much bother to give United the lead.
Saha's pace and Ronaldo's brilliant pass led to the second goal, and the night was rounded off by Solskjaer, who neatly tucked the ball home after good work and link-up play with Louis Saha, who is fast becoming a fan's favourite.
Charlton: Carson, Young, El Karkouri, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Hughes, Holland, Faye (Rommedahl 82), Ambrose, Hasselbaink (Marcus Bent 65), Darren Bent.
Subs Not Used: Myhre, Kishishev, Lisbie.
Booked: Hreidarsson.
Man Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Evra, Fletcher, Park (Carrick 77), O'Shea, Giggs (Solskjaer 82), Saha, Ronaldo.
