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Manchester United v St Etienne: Remembering the Battle of the Croissants
Manchester United’s Europa League draw with St Etienne will bring back memories of the infamous “battle of the croissants”.
Manchester United's Jimmy Greenhoff gets a shot away during the 1977 clash with St Etienne
Manchester United, then managed by Dave Sexton, have played the French club only once before, in the first round of the old European Cup Winners’ Cup in September 1977 when Britain had been hit by a bread shortage following a bakers’ strike.
French fans taunted and pelted United followers with bread rolls and croissants during the 1-1 first leg draw prompting the travelling supporters to go on the rampage in the Stade Geoffrey Gouchard and the town.
UEFA initially threw United out of the competition as a punishment for their rioting fans but after an appeal, European football’s governing body allowed them back in on the condition they played the home game at least 300 kilometres away from Old Trafford.
That left only a handful of English League grounds available and United chose to play the tie at Plymouth’s Home Park, winning the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Steve Coppell and Stuart Pearson in front of a 32,000 full-house.
Manchester United played the second leg against St Etienne in Plymouth after crowd trouble in France
Steve Coppell (right) scored for United in the second leg against St Etienne
Take a look inside Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium
Stuart Pearson (9) also netted for United
Their run in the competition however proved to be short, if eventful.
They lost the first leg of the second round tie 4-0 to Porto in Portugal but nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback in the second which they won 5-2 – helped by two own goals from the visitors.
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