From The Guardian:
'A wretched error from Roy Carroll, Manchester United's erratic goalkeeper, may have caused irreparable damage to their hopes of returning the European Cup to Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson's men are intrepid travellers but even if they rediscover their most exhilarating peaks it is difficult to see how they can achieve the feat of escapology that is now needed at the San Siro.
Not only did the Serie A leaders leave Old Trafford with a precious first-leg lead, courtesy of the on-loan Chelsea forward Hernán Crespo, they also exposed some basic flaws in United's campaign to be known as the principal power in European football. Uppermost among these is the absence of a goalkeeper who can be elevated to this kind of lofty tier without succumbing to stage fright, and unfortunately for Carroll there must now be grave doubts as to whether he will get many more chances.
The shot that Clarence Seedorf punted goalwards with 12 minutes remaining contained neither the pace nor the power to trouble a more accomplished goalkeeper. Carroll's inability to hold the ball, allowing it to ricochet off his chest and presenting Crespo with a chance which was too inviting to turn down, inadvertently imitated Jerzy Dudek's aberration for Liverpool against Bayer Leverkusen the previous night.
The vast majority inside Old Trafford must have felt a horrible sense of deja vu, not only because Carroll had been culpable of equally undistinguished errors against Lyon and Tottenham but because it was another goalkeeping mistake, this time from Tim Howard, which precipitated their departure from the competition at the hands of Porto last season. To enter into these high-stakes matches without a proficient goalkeeper is an act of carelessness for which Ferguson, having tried 10 possible successors for Peter Schmeichel, must take responsibility.'