Solskjaer Retires Through Injuries

The Norwegian striker finally decided to hang up his boots earlier this week after failing to overcome his injury woes.

In an illustrious career, Solskjaer became a United hero, scoring the winner in the 1999 Champions League final, just one of the 92 goals he netted during his 10 year Old Trafford career.

The last four seasons have seen Solskjaer continually return to the treatment room, a recurrent knee problem being the most limiting. At 34-years-old the striker’s peak was behind him and when he felt his knee go in training last week, he knew his time was up.

But Solskjaer is not bitter about the retirement and says he had no trouble in recognising it was the best decision.

United notch up first win

United won for the first time this season when a superb shot from Nani was enough to give them a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Portuguese forward scored his first goal for United since his transfer from Sporting Lisbon with an unstoppable shot after 68 minutes.

The win lifted United up from second bottom in the table to mid-table after their poor start of two draws and a defeat in their previous three league matches.

Spurs meanwhile, beaten for the third time in four starts, slipped to 17th.

United Unhappy Over Liverpool/Heinze Affair

Manchester United have launched an investigation into Liverpool's conduct over Gabriel Heinze's protracted move away from Old Trafford, manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday.

Heinze was wanted by Liverpool until a Premier League arbitration panel upheld United's claim that the Argentina international was not permitted to move to one of their major domestic rivals.

Defender Heinze instead sealed a transfer to Real Madrid this week but United are not prepared to let the matter rest.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had expressed his anger that Heinze had not been permitted to move to Anfield, claiming that the tribunal had wrongly sided with United when making their decision.

Ferguson was disappointed about the stuff he has come out with.

Reds go down 1-0 to City

Not a good day for United yesterday. They got beat by City by 1-0.

United are missing outright front players like Saha, and with Rooney out for another month or so, and Ronaldo serving a 3-match ban, things don`t look good right now. Two points out of a possible nine sees United in the bottom half of the league.

Derby Match Later Today

Manchester City will not make Sunday's derby with United a physical battle, says manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

In the build-up to the Manchester derby, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has complained that flair players such as Cristiano Ronaldo are receiving inadequate protection against the cloggers, seen by some as a typical Ferguson tactic to influence the psychology of referees in games involving the Red Devils.

But new Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson says Ferguson need have no worries about an overly-physical approach from his players on Sunday, even though Fergie has already expressed his belief that City will go down that route to maintain their winning start.

Eriksson, though, says that if City win, it will be by playing football, not intimidation.

Draws not good enough!

Two draws, one against Reading and one last night at Portsmouth, isn`t the best way to start off the season.

And with Ronaldo getting red carded for a head butt, it doesn`t look too bright for the derby on Sunday either.

Tevez complete United move

Carlos Tevez has finally completed his protracted move to Manchester United, the Premier League champions confirming this afternoon that the 23-year-old Argentina forward had joined them on a two-year loan.

Tevez, who has been the subject of a long-running Premier League investigation into third-party ownership, has been training with United all week.

However, he is extremely unlikely to be involved in United’s opening game of the season against Reading on Sunday, instead being pencilled in by Sir Alex Ferguson for next weekend’s derby clash at Manchester City.

Despite delays in completing the deal, Ferguson was happy for the Premier League to be extremely thorough.

United win Community Shield

Goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar saved three penalty kicks as Manchester United beat Chelsea in a shootout in the Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to English soccer's Premier League season.

The Dutchman stopped efforts from Claudio Pizarro, Frank Lampard and Shaun Wright-Phillips in a 3-0 spotkick victory at London's Wembley Stadium after a 1-1 tie over 90 minutes.

Ryan Giggs gave United a 35th-minute lead, then Florent Malouda scored on his Chelsea debut just before halftime. Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick scored United's first two penalties before Wayne Rooney converted the decisive kick.

The Community Shield, formerly the Charity Shield, is contested by the winners of the Premier League and the F.A. Cup and raises money for charities and community groups. United last season won the league for a first time in four years, while Chelsea defeated its rival in the Cup final.

The win was United's first in the Community Shield since 2003, when it also triumphed on penalties. It lost on its last appearance, against Arsenal, three years ago.

Giggs, playing in the shield match for a 10th time, fired into the net from 10 yards after Patrice Evra, playing as a winger instead of in his usual role at fullback, cut the ball back into his path.