Paulo Sergio celebrates repeat feat
Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Article summary
Paulo Sergio was delighted to have scored another goal against Manchester United FC after securing FC Bayern München a point against the English champions.
Article body
Repeat performance
The Brazilian forward, scorer of Bayern's late winner in their quarter-final first-leg success at Old Trafford last season, repeated the trick as he latched on to Carsten Jancker's 87th-minute through-ball to put the ball beyond United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez and earn the Bavarian side a share of the points. "I am pleased to have scored against Manchester United," he told reporters. "It is always a great challenge to play against them."
'Too much space'
Bayern looked like they were on the way to a 1-0 defeat after a poor second-half performance at the Olympiastadion, as Paulo Sergio admitted. "In the second half we gave them too much space in midfield and this causes difficulties with sides like Manchester United," he said. "They are very strong."
Terrible start
His team-mate Bixente Lizarazu agreed. "We started the second half terribly," he said. "United had no chances until the 74th minute and used the first one they had to make it 1-0. In the last 15 minutes we tried everything but it is hard to stay focused against such a great team. The match was played at the very highest level and both teams are very strong."
A point gained
Their efforts were rewarded at the end, though, and coach Ottmar Hitzfeld refused to accept that the result represented two points dropped for Bayern. "At the end we've won a point," he said. "We were the better team in the first half but lost our rhythm after the break."
So close for Ferguson
His opposite number, United coach Sir Alex Ferguson, was understandably frustrated especially since his side narrowly missed out on doubling their lead at 1-0 when captain Roy Keane hit the crossbar with a blistering drive.
'A concentration thing'
"For Bayern, the first half was very good then we finally started attacking well but I am still very disappointed with the draw especially because Roy Keane could have scored to make it 2-0," he said. When asked why his side had conceded so late, he said: "It could have been a concentration thing at the end."
