I was there, and here's the report and photos. A very emotional day.
Having set off from sunny Hampshire at 9:30 we expected to be up there in time to see the pre match festivities and have a quick look in the megastore. However the M6 motorway and Manchester Police conspired to rob us of the extra hour and we were climbing the stairs to the seating as Ole came out holding our European Cup (we saw it on the monitors)
United fielded a strong looking side and we welcomed Nani, Edwin and Patrice back from their holidays - Tevez was partnered by Giggs and Fletcher, Scholes and Darren Gibson joined Nani in midfield. The backline featured Rio and Nemanja, Silvestre and young Danny Simpson.
Espanyol clearly weren't intending to be thrown to the lions at Ole's party and they showed some good and aggressive football. On one occasion Tevez was fouled and squared up to his opponent, but as the ref walked over he fell backwards onto his backside again! Scholes had our hearts in our mouths with his usual tackling prowess (booked) and was encouraged by the 68,000 to "shoooot!" any time the ball came to him (even on one occasion in the centre circle facing away from goal - which brought some laughter from us) His passing again though was sublime, you just wouldn't believe how effortless he makes it look!
In the interval we were delighted to see Teddy Sheringham return to Old Trafford and in addition to praising Ole, announce his own retirement (which wasn't so nice)
The second half action seemed almost incidental as the 68,000 pairs of eyes in the stadium fell on the dugout as we waited for the man of the hour to emerge. Even a trot down the line ramped the already vociferous Stretford End's volume to insane levels. Then as so often was the case - Ole entered the battlefield with some 20 minutes remaining.
And as so often was the case, he stole the show. He was first to every ball, made every run and flicked on Fraizer Campbell to run through and expertly dink the ball over the keeper for the winner.
Ole lined up a freekick that was tipped over the bar, clearly the Espanyol goalkeeper hadn't read the script! He was jeered by the Stretford End and Ole good naturedly had a quick "chat" with him. Spare a thought also for the poor guy who nicked the ball off Ole and was greeted with 68,000 voices howling their displeasure. I almost swear I saw him thinking "what did I do?"
It was an honour and a privilege to witness this public "thank you" to a true United (and indeed, Football - Legend) Ole emotionally thanked everyone and made one last lap of the Old Trafford stadium with his children before receiving a guard of honour down the tunnel.
Also interesting to note the Stretford End ran through every player's chant/song whether they were playing or not. All that is except one......
Not one of them mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo.
One note before the pics. In the megastore after the game (that was jammed) I saw an old lady with a United shirt on - and printed on that shirt was "Nanny #17". Just class!
United line up (and no, I didn't know Scholes was scratching his ass!)
Couldn't put it better
Nani lit the place up
Teddy Sheringham
Giggsy lines up a corner
"Old Trafford, Manchester United substitution: Replacing number thirty two Carlos Tevez ... Number Twenty - OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER!!
Ole's first touch - naturally a pinpoint pass
Now, I wonder who should take this kick?
A final thank you.
Apparently Sir Alex has just confirmed this according to the BBC - His virus is particularly nasty.
