Heroes & Villains – Manchester United
Hero – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
There are some obvious names that could easily put in ahead of Solskjaer as Manchester United’s hero for this article, but none of them have scored a last-minute winner in the Champions League Final and gone on to manage the club.
Solskjaer’s winning goal in the dying seconds of the 1999 Champions League Final is undoubtedly the highlight of his playing career at Old Trafford. Not only did it win the game for United, but it sealed the club’s historic Treble.
Solskjaer was regarded as something of a ‘super sub’, a title that he understandably dislikes.
He scored within six minutes of coming on as a substitute in his debut for the club in 1996 and of course scored the famous winner against Bayern Munich in the Champions League victory.
One stand out game that probably confirms that he was a super sub came earlier in the 1998/99 season, in a game away to Nottingham Forest in the league. Solskjaer came on in the 71st minute and bagged four goals in the final 12 minutes to give United an 8-1 win.
In all, the Norwegian striker netted 126 goals in 366 games for United between 1996 and 2007. As well as winning the Treble in 1998/99, Solskjaer won five Premier League winners medals and won the FA Cup in 2003/04.
He was the surprise replacement for Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, taking the hot seat in December 2018.
Villain – Ludek Miklosko
If you mention the name of former West Ham United goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko to a Manchester United fan of a certain age, you are likely to see them shudder.
The Czech goalkeeper made several key saves in a crucial match for West Ham against United in May 1995.
United went into the final game of the 1994/95 season away at Upton Park knowing that they would win the league for the third successive season if they beat West Ham and Blackburn didn’t win their game away to Liverpool.
West Ham’s Michael Hughes opened the scoring in the first half and Manchester United equalised in the second half, thanks to a goal from veteran Brian McClair.
Apart from McClair’s equaliser, Miklosko managed to keep United at bay, saving shot after shot.
The league title went to Ewood Park despite Blackburn losing 2-1 at Liverpool and Manchester United fans still remember Ludek Miklosko as the man that prevented them from winning the 1994/95 league title.
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