The 2005–06 season was Manchester United‘s 14th season in thePremier League, and their 31st consecutive season in the top division of English football.
After having finished in third place in both of the previous two seasons, the Red Devils improved slightly to finish the 2005–06 season in second place, despite finishing 8 points off the lead.
However, despite the improvement in their league form, United’s European form took a massive blow, with the club failing to reach the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1993–94. The club fared better in the FA Cup, reaching the Fifth Round, but their real success came in the League Cup, in which they beat Wigan Athletic 4–0 in the final. United became the first club in Premier League history to score 1000 goals, the milestone was reached on 29 October in the 4–1 defeat toMiddlesbrough at the Riverside, with Cristiano Ronaldo getting the goal.
The 2005–06 season also saw the departure of club captain Roy Keane, who had been at Old Trafford since 1993. Keane played his last game for the club on 18 September 2005 in a goalless draw with Liverpool, but was forced to withdraw from the match only a couple of minutes before full-time.
It was later revealed that Keane had picked up a foot injury and he eventually left the club for his boyhood team Celtic on 18 November 2005. Keane was subsequently replaced as captain by his deputy, Gary Neville.
On 25 November 2005, just seven days after Keane left the club, United fans were plunged into mourning by the death of legendary former player George Best, who died at the age of 59.
Pre-season and friendlies
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result
F–A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 July 2005 | Clyde | A | 5–1 | Kléberson 30′, Scholes 48′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 58′ (pen.), 85′,Miller 78′ | 8,000 |
| 20 July 2005 | Peterborough United | A | 6–0 | Van Nistelrooy (3) 54′, 77′, 84′, Ronaldo 69′, 90′, Rossi 81′ | 15,460 |
| 23 July 2005 | Hong Kong XI | A | 2–0 | Rossi 69′, Dong 73′ | 33,971 |
| 26 July 2005 | Beijing Hyundai | A | 3–0 | Scholes (2) 40′, 43′, Park 48′ | 24,224 |
| 28 July 2005 | Kashima Antlers | N | 1–2 | Giggs 7′ | 33,971 |
| 30 July 2005 | Urawa Red Diamonds | A | 2–0 | Rooney (2) 50′, 65′ | 58,389 |
| 3 August 2005 | Royal Antwerp | A | 6–1 | Van Nistelrooy (3) 12′, 27′ (pen.), 45′, Scholes 15′, Ronaldo32′, Fletcher 60′ | 12,000 |
| 9 May 2006 | Celtic | H | 1–0 | Ronaldo 55′ | 69,591 |
FA Premier League
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result
F–A |
Scorers | Attendance | League
position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 August 2005 | Everton | A | 2–0 | Van Nistelrooy 43′, Rooney 46′ | 38,610 | 4th |
| 20 August 2005 | Aston Villa | H | 1–0 | Van Nistelrooy 66′ | 67,934 | 4th |
| 28 August 2005 | Newcastle United | A | 2–0 | Rooney 66′, Van Nistelrooy 90′ | 52,327 | 4th |
| 10 September 2005 | Manchester City | H | 1–1 | Van Nistelrooy 45′ | 67,839 | 4th |
| 18 September 2005 | Liverpool | A | 0–0 | 44,917 | 3rd | |
| 24 September 2005 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–2 | Van Nistelrooy 67′ | 67,765 | 6th |
| 1 October 2005 | Fulham | A | 3–2 | Van Nistelrooy (2) 16′ (pen.), 44′, Rooney 17′ | 21,862 | 4th |
| 15 October 2005 | Sunderland | A | 3–1 | Rooney 40′, Van Nistelrooy 76′, Rossi 87′ | 39,085 | 3rd |
| 22 October 2005 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–1 | Silvestre 7′ | 67,856 | 5th |
| 29 October 2005 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–4 | Ronaldo 90′ | 30,579 | 7th |
| 6 November 2005 | Chelsea | H | 1–0 | Fletcher 31′ | 67,864 | 4th |
| 19 November 2005 | Charlton Athletic | A | 3–1 | Smith 37′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 70′, 85′ | 26,730 | 3rd |
| 27 November 2005 | West Ham United | A | 2–1 | Rooney 47′, O’Shea 56′ | 34,755 | 2nd |
| 3 December 2005 | Portsmouth | H | 3–0 | Scholes 20′, Rooney 80′, Van Nistelrooy 84′ | 67,684 | 2nd |
| 11 December 2005 | Everton | H | 1–1 | Giggs 15′ | 67,831 | 3rd |
| 14 December 2005 | Wigan Athletic | H | 4–0 | Ferdinand 30′, Rooney (2) 35′, 55′, Van Nistelrooy 70′ (pen.) | 67,793 | 2nd |
| 17 December 2005 | Aston Villa | A | 2–0 | Van Nistelrooy 10′, Rooney 51′ | 37,128 | 2nd |
| 26 December 2005 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–0 | Scholes 35′, Ferdinand 45′, Van Nistelrooy 63′ | 67,972 | 2nd |
| 28 December 2005 | Birmingham City | A | 2–2 | Van Nistelrooy 4′, Rooney 53′ | 28,459 | 2nd |
| 31 December 2005 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 4–1 | N’Gotty 8′ (o.g.), Saha 44′, Ronaldo (2) 68′, 90′ | 67,858 | 2nd |
| 3 January 2006 | Arsenal | A | 0–0 | 38,313 | 2nd | |
| 14 January 2006 | Manchester City | A | 1–3 | Van Nistelrooy 76′ | 47,192 | 2nd |
| 22 January 2006 | Liverpool | H | 1–0 | Ferdinand 90′ | 67,874 | 2nd |
| 1 February 2006 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 3–4 | Saha 37′, Van Nistelrooy (2) 63′, 65′ | 25,484 | 2nd |
| 4 February 2006 | Fulham | H | 4–2 | Park 6′, Ronaldo (2) 14′, 86′, Saha 23′ | 67,844 | 2nd |
| 11 February 2006 | Portsmouth | A | 3–1 | Van Nistelrooy 18′, Ronaldo (2) 38′, 45′ | 20,206 | 2nd |
| 6 March 2006 | Wigan Athletic | A | 2–1 | Ronaldo 74′, Chimbonda 90′ (o.g.) | 23,524 | 2nd |
| 12 March 2006 | Newcastle United | H | 2–0 | Rooney (2) 8′, 12′ | 67,858 | 2nd |
| 18 March 2006 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–1 | Saha (2) 16′, 64′ | 27,623 | 2nd |
| 26 March 2006 | Birmingham City | H | 3–0 | Taylor 3′ (o.g.), Giggs 15′, Rooney 83′ | 69,070 | 2nd |
| 29 March 2006 | West Ham United | H | 1–0 | Van Nistelrooy 45′ | 69,522 | 2nd |
| 1 April 2006 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | Saha 33′, Van Nistelrooy 79′ | 27,718 | 2nd |
| 9 April 2006 | Arsenal | H | 2–0 | Rooney 54′, Park 78′ | 70,908 | 2nd |
| 14 April 2006 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 72,519 | 2nd | |
| 17 April 2006 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–1 | Rooney (2) 8′, 36′ | 36,141 | 2nd |
| 29 April 2006 | Chelsea | A | 0–3 | 42,219 | 2nd | |
| 1 May 2006 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–0 | 69,531 | 2nd | |
| 7 May 2006 | Charlton Athletic | H | 4–0 | Saha 19′, Ronaldo 23′, Euell 34′ (o.g.),Richardson 58′ | 73,006 | 2nd |
| Pos | Club | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelsea | 38 | 29 | 4 | 5 | 72 | 22 | +50 | 91 |
| 2 | Manchester United | 38 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 72 | 34 | +38 | 83 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 57 | 25 | +32 | 82 |
Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
FA Cup
| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result
F–A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 January 2006 | Round 3 | Burton Albion | A | 0–0 | 6,191 | |
| 18 January 2006 | Round 3
Replay |
Burton Albion | H | 5–0 | Saha 7′, Rossi 23′, 90′, Richardson 52′,Giggs 68′ | 53,654 |
| 29 January 2006 | Round 4 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 3–0 | Richardson (2) 6′, 52′, Saha 45′ | 28,333 |
| 18 February 2006 | Round 5 | Liverpool | A | 0–1 | 44,039 |
League Cup
| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result
F–A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 October 2005 | Round 3 | Barnet | H | 4–1 | Miller 4′, Richardson 19′, Rossi 51′, Ebanks-Blake 89′ | 43,673 |
| 30 November 2005 | Round 4 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–1 | Ronaldo 12′ (pen.), Saha 16′, O’Shea 56′ | 48,294 |
| 20 December 2005 | Round 5 | Birmingham City | A | 3–1 | Saha (2) 46′, 63′, Park 50′ | 20,454 |
| 11 January 2006 | Semi-final
First leg |
Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–1 | Saha 30′ | 24,348 |
| 25 January 2006 | Semi-final
Second leg |
Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–1 | Van Nistelrooy 8′, Saha 51′ | 61,637 |
| 26 February 2006 | Final | Wigan Athletic | N | 4–0 | Rooney (2) 33′, 61′, Saha 55′, Ronaldo 59′ | 66,866 |
UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round
| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result
F–A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 August 2005 | Third qualifying round
First leg |
Debrecen | H | 3–0 | Rooney 7′, Van Nistelrooy 49′, Ronaldo 63′ | 51,701 |
| 24 August 2005 | Third qualifying round
Second leg |
Debrecen | A | 3–0 | Heinze (2) 20′, 61′, Richardson 65′ | 27,000 |
Group stage
| Date | Opponents | H / A | Result
F–A |
Scorers | Attendance | Group
position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 September 2005 | Villarreal | A | 0–0 | 22,000 | 2nd | |
| 27 September 2005 | Benfica | H | 2–1 | Giggs 39′, Van Nistelrooy 85′ | 66,112 | 1st |
| 18 October 2005 | Lille | H | 0–0 | 60,626 | 1st | |
| 2 November 2005 | Lille | A | 0–1 | 65,000 | 3rd | |
| 22 November 2005 | Villarreal | H | 0–0 | 67,471 | 3rd | |
| 7 December 2005 | Benfica | A | 1–2 | Scholes 6′ | 61,000 | 4th |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villarreal | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 10 |
| Benfica | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Lille | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 6 |
| Manchester United | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 6 |
Squad statistics
| No. | Pos. | Name | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 1 | GK | Tim Howard | 0(1) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5(1) | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Gary Neville (vc) | 24(1) | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3(1) | 0 | 34(3) | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Patrice Evra | 7(4) | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8(6) | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Gabriel Heinze | 2(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4(2) | 2 |
| 5 | DF | Rio Ferdinand | 37 | 3 | 1(1) | 0 | 4(1) | 0 | 8 | 0 | 50(2) | 3 |
| 6 | DF | Wes Brown | 17(2) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29(2) | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Cristiano Ronaldo | 24(9) | 9 | 1(1) | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 37(10) | 11 |
| 8 | FW | Wayne Rooney | 34(2) | 16 | 2(1) | 0 | 3(1) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 44(4) | 19 |
| 9 | FW | Louis Saha | 12(7) | 7 | 3(1) | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0(2) | 0 | 20(10) | 15 |
| 10 | FW | Ruud van Nistelrooy | 28(7) | 21 | 2 | 0 | 1(1) | 1 | 8 | 2 | 39(8) | 24 |
| 11 | MF | Ryan Giggs | 22(5) | 2 | 1(1) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4(1) | 1 | 30(7) | 4 |
| 13 | MF | Park Ji-Sung | 23(11) | 1 | 1(1) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0(6) | 0 | 27(18) | 2 |
| 14 | FW | Alan Smith | 15(6) | 1 | 0(2) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 7(1) | 0 | 23(10) | 1 |
| 15 | DF | Nemanja Vidić | 9(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11(4) | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Roy Keane (c) | 4(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5(1) | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Liam Miller | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 1(2) | 1 |
| 18 | MF | Paul Scholes | 18(2) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 25(2) | 3 |
| 19 | GK | Edwin van der Sar | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Ole Gunnar Solskjær | 0(3) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(3) | 0 |
| 22 | DF | John O’Shea | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3(1) | 1 | 7 | 0 | 46(1) | 2 |
| 23 | MF | Kieran Richardson | 12(10) | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4(1) | 1 | 2(3) | 1 | 22(14) | 5 |
| 24 | MF | Darren Fletcher | 23(4) | 1 | 2(1) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 36(5) | 1 |
| 25 | MF | Quinton Fortune | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | Phil Bardsley | 3(5) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 2(1) | 0 | 8(7) | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Mikaël Silvestre | 30(3) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4(1) | 0 | 6 | 0 | 44(4) | 1 |
| 28 | DF | Gerard Piqué | 1(2) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4(3) | 0 |
| 40 | FW | Sylvan Ebanks-Blake | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 42 | FW | Giuseppe Rossi | 1(4) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0(2) | 0 | 6(6) | 4 |
| 44 | DF | Adam Eckersley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | MF | Lee Martin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 49 | MF | Ritchie Jones | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2(2) | 0 |
| 50 | MF | Darron Gibson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
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