18 April, 1998. An injury-beleagured United were limping towards the finishing line of another hard-fought title race with Arsenal. By this point, while still mathematically well in the hunt to retain the trophy, the Reds were down to the bare bones and the Gunners had built up an unstoppable momentum.
Ole was thrown into the action against Newcastle with the score locked at 1-1. United were laying siege to the Magpies' goal, but just couldn't get a vital winner. With a minute remaining, such was United's commitment to attack, that one cleared corner left Magpies midfielder Rob Lee with a free run on goal from inside his own half.
Having only been on the field 10 minutes, Ole used his freshness to sprint after Lee in a nail-biting race. Should United concede, that would be the season over. The gap continued to narrow until Lee got to the edge of the United area, when Ole flung himself into an awful challenge and was, quite rightly, sent off.
In ensuring the foul was outside the box, however, he had prevented an almost certain goal and a potential penalty. In recognition, he was handed a standing ovation by the Old Trafford crowd.
It's not the proudest moment of Ole's career, I'd imagine, and he was carpeted by Sir Alex for his lack of sportsmanship after the game, but it was a deliberate self-sacrifice which laid bare his worth as a player and a man.
