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Ruud to the rescue as Man Utd snatch dramatic draw with Nantes
( 2002-02-21 09:15 ) (7 )

An injury-time penalty from Ruud van Nistelrooy saved Manchester United from defeat against French side Nantes in a pulsating Champions League clash that ended 1-1 here on Wednesday.

Dutch international van Nistelrooy snatched a share of the points for the English giants in a dramatic finale, drilling in his last-gasp spot kick to deny Nantes a famous win at the Stade Beaujoire.

The English Premiership giants were handed the penalty lifeline after Nantes defender Mario Yepes clearly handled inside the area as the Red Devils midfielder Paul Scholes surged goalwards.

Yepes, who had already been booked in the first half, was sent off for the offence by referee Kyros Vassaras. All that was left was for ice-cool van Nistelrooy to rifle in his equaliser to the relief of his team-mates.

Earlier United manager Alex Ferguson's men had seemed destined for defeat as they struggled to recover from going a goal down when Nantes' Romanian international Viorel Moldovan scored on nine minutes.

Nantes captain and goalkeeper Fabrice Landreau appeared to have done enough to earn his team their first win in Group A after two defeats, pulling off a series of vital saves as United laid siege to the home team's goal.

Landreau's best block came four minutes from time, flinging himself at a powerful diving header from England international Scholes to tip wide at full-stretch for a brilliant save.

The Nantes skipper had also blocked two fine efforts from Ryan Giggs and van Nistelrooy earlier in the second half and had also come to the rescue in the opening 45 minutes, when United had pressed hard for an equaliser.

Moldovan's goal had come on nine minutes. A deflected shot by midfielder Olivier Quint was helped on by Tahitian striker Marama Vahirua and found an unmarked Moldovan, who coolly slid home past Fabien Barthez.

Shortly afterwards Nantes had alarm bells ringing in the United defensive ranks again, this time Vahirua darting away and shooting only for Barthez to parry clear.

Ferguson's side did finally start exerting pressure of their own, and might have equalised when van Nistelrooy's shot from the edge of the area beat Mickael Landreau only to hit the foot of the post.

Van Nistelrooy was denied again on 29 minutes. A wonderful first time pass from David Beckham split the Nantes defence wide open and sent the Dutchman through on goal. This time however Landreau was equal to the challenge and did just enough to block the Dutchman's shot just wide.

Playing as the sole striker in United's 4-5-1-1 formation, van Nistelrooy frequently was isolated up front and his frustration got the better of him just after half an hour when he left a boot in when challenging Landreau.

An ugly melee ensued, resulting in Toy Keane and Nantes' defender Yepes receiving cautions.

With United clearly rattled, Nantes grew in confidence and began advancing forward purposefully. They might have had a second when Moldovan toyed with the United defence and cut back for Vahirua, who shot wide.

But United came back strongly in the second half, and looked far more comfortable when Ferguson replaced Veron with Solskjaer and switched to their more familiar 4-4-2.

Yet with Landreau immense in the Nantes goal, United's frantic attacking efforts looked to be in vain until Yepes' handball nightmare gave the English side their precious penalty.