United victorious but at a cost as Silvestre joins
long-term injury list
The loss of Mikaël Silvestre, almost certainly for the remainder of
the season, after a shoulder dislocation was a costly end to an
otherwise straightforward evening for Manchester United as they
coasted into the last eight of the Champions League with a 1-0
victory over Lille.
Four victories, since that stormy first leg in France two weeks
ago, have taken Sir Alex Ferguson's side through to the
quarter-finals of Europe and the FA Cup and into a nine-point lead
at the top of the Premiership. However, that same period has come
at great cost to United in terms of injuries. Louis Saha is
expected to be out for a month and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is
unavailable until the end of March. Henrik Larsson, having scored
last night's winner, returns to Sweden on Sunday, and the youngster
Giuseppe Rossi is not permitted to be recalled from loan at Italy's
Parma.
Man Utd's Saha out for four weeks
Manchester United striker Louis Saha has been ruled out for four
weeks with a hamstring injury.
Saha sustained the problem in training for the Champions League
clash with Lille at Old Trafford.
The 28-year-old's injury is a setback for United boss Sir Alex
Ferguson as he faces a shortage of strikers.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is out for a month after knee surgery, while
Henrik Larsson will return to Sweden shortly after a loan spell
from Helsingborg.
Saha's injury was confirmed after a scan on Tuesday, and manager
Sir Alex Ferguson has already said he will not make any late
attempt to extend Larsson's loan spell.
He will miss Saturday's FA Cup tie at Middlesbrough, the
Premiership clashes with Bolton and Blackburn on 17 and 31 March,
and, almost certainly, the first leg of the Champions League
quarter final at the beginning of April should they progress.