United reaches FA Cup 5th Rd
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Manchester United completed the most satisfying week of their season on Sunday when they won 3-0 at second division Wolverhampton Wanderers to ease into Monday's FA Cup fifth round draw.
Two goals for England midfielder Kieran Richardson, the first after five minutes, and one for Louis Saha were a fair reflection of United's dominance at Molineux.
European champions Liverpool also advanced as a Steven Gerrard penalty and a left-foot shot by John Arne Riise earned a 2-1 victory in a scrappy tie at Portsmouth.
Last Sunday, United grabbed a last-minute Premier League win over Liverpool and on Wednesday they reached the League Cup final with a 2-1 second-leg win over Blackburn Rovers.
In the previous round of the FA Cup a weakened United team needed a replay to get past minor league Burton Albion but this time manager Alex Ferguson selected a strong, though somewhat unbalanced, team with England centre back Rio Ferdinand playing in midfield alongside Wayne Rooney.
They were in charge from the start, especially after Richardson steered home from 12 metres when the Wolves defence failed to clear a low Saha cross.
The second came in the last minute of the first half when more static central defending allowed Saha to race on to a 50 metre punt by new defender Nemanja Vidic to drive the ball past Stefan Postma.
Victory was sealed seven minutes after the restart when Park Ji-sung did well to break down the right and pull the ball back to Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman then calmly chipped across goal for the waiting Richardson to head into an empty net.
Discuss in: Forum | Message board

Back to top ^
|