Trotters' tactics rattle Evra as United slip up

It was never like this in Monaco. Even in the Premier League, Manchester United's France full back rarely faces an opponent so committed that he fears a trip to Accident and Emergency.

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Kevin Davies' full-blooded performance in one of the biggest upsets of the season ignited Sir Alex Ferguson's temper and triggered a hairdryer blast at the referee that saw United's manager sent off.

But Bolton hero Davies epitomised the return to the Reebok style that broadcaster Stuart Hall memorably summed up as "in yer face, up yer bum, ale-house football".

A colourful exaggeration maybe.

But the passion and desire so glaringly absent when our elite waved Croatia through on Black Wednesday were potent enough virtues to unnerve Evra and topple United.

"It was a tough game," said Evra, floored early on by a lunge that rightly earned Davies a yellow card from Mark Clattenburg.

"I received more tackles than I've had in my life.

"It was the same last year when he kicked me as well. I said to him then: 'Why do you do a tackle like that?' and he said: 'Because I don't like you'.

"I didn't understand it. Here he did it again. I think his first tackle on me should have been a red card.

"I don't know what the problem is with Davies, because I don't know him. It's bizarre.

"I was very angry. The captain and the others said to me: 'You need to concentrate on the game, you must not react to a bad tackle like that'.

"I also said to the referee: 'You can't play football like that — this is not a football game'.

"When I play football I do it to play the ball, not to kick somebody. And I keep my eyes on the ball."

Clattenburg, who has fielded some criticism this season, took the correct view that as long as Bolton's challenges, however physical, stayed within the law, United would have to look after themselves.

Ferguson, suspecting that Bolton had targeted Evra — "we wouldn't know how," protested rival boss Gary Megson — could not prevent himself launching a finger-jabbing tirade at the referee at half-time.

He was still stewing afterwards, saying: "We looked for some protection and didn't get it.

"I told the referee just how bad he was and he didn't like it.

"Some referees don't like the truth."

The truth is that United could not cope with the sheer physical ferocity of Bolton, fired up by the threat of relegation and fighting for their lives, as Ferguson himself conceded in the aftermath.

Wayne Rooney's bulldog attitude as much as his match-winning potential was greatly missed, while that formidable Serbian sentry Nemanja Vidic would surely have shored up United's defences.

He would certainly not have left his post in the naive manner of young understudy Gerard Pique, whose failure to clear Ivan Campo's 11th-minute free-kick was all the unmarked Nicolas Anelka needed.

Shaken United would still have escaped only their second defeat — Manchester City, even fiercer derby rivals, beat them in August — had Carlos Tevez not produced the miss of the match after 72 minutes.

Tevez shot Ferguson "a look like Che Guevara" when he asked the Argentina striker if his demanding week merited a rest on the bench, but his touch from Evra's perfect cross was woefully off-target.

Bolton fans wildly celebrated their first home win over United since Frank Worthington's double did the trick in 1978.

The 'Ginger Mourinho' tag for new boss Megson is less mocking by the week.

Megson, a low-profile replacement for sacked Sammy Lee, said: "My reception was not the best.

"There was nothing I could do about the reaction when I came here but swallow it and work hard.

"I ask the team to be aggressive, yes, but I think we only had one bad tackle.

"We have to compete and I'm not going to criticise them for competing. There would be complaints from me if we didn't."

Ferguson, in philosophical mode, shrugged: "It's another day in the history of United."

Whether it is a significant day, with Arsenal sneaking three points ahead, he might not know until May.

LION CUBS A glimmer of hope — there may only have been one potential England Under 21 on viewbut Danny Guthrie, a Shrewsbury-born midfielder on loan from Liverpool, was a dynamic man-of-the-match performer for Bolton and looks to have a future at Anfield, having made his full debut in a Champions League tie against Galatasaray last season.