Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and
Henrik Larsson took Manchester United into the FA Cup 4th round with goals in the second half.
Their goals sandwiched a
Milan Baros effort in the 74th following a defensive error. Larsson had earlier put United in the lead with a close range finish on his debut to cap an impressive first game for Man Utd, before Baros equalised later on.
Martin O' Neill's side must have had thought they had secured a replay, but substitute Solskjaer broke Villan hearts in the 92nd minute after
Gabor Kiraly failed to dive in time to save the Norwegian striker's shot which squirmed underneath the goalkeeper's body.
Larsson had earlier looked threatening in the first half when he had slipped
Wayne Rooney the ball in the 12th minute, only to see the England international's effort soar off target. The Swedish was back to threaten the Villan goal 2 minutes later when he sent a header towards goal, only to see the effort saved comfortably by Kiraly, and in the 15th minute an agile turn past his marker following a pass from Rooney saw Larrson unleash a stinging low effort which was once again denied by Kiraly.
Kiraly was again the hero in the 31st minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo's twinkletoes had mesmerised the Villan defender on the left flank long enough for Ronaldo to send a cross into the box. Rooney had taken the cross niftily on his chest before letting loose with a left foot half-volley, but Kiraly showed good reflexes to deny the United forward. 10 minutes earlier, Rooney had wasted a good opportunity to put United into the lead after a clever flick-on by Henrik Larsson had released him, but Rooney scorned the chance, sending the effort straight into the arms of Kiraly. Rooney was at the centre of yet another denied chance a minute later after Larsson had slipped him the ball in the Villan penalty area, but a hesitating Rooney gave
Wilfred Bouma enough time to make an excellent slide tackle to rob Rooney of the ball. A reflexive clearance in the 37th minute also denied Larsson when the Swedish had looked certain to score after
Michael Carrick had released Larsson with a stunning lob past two defenders.
United continued to threaten after the break when
Wes Brown headed a cross from Wayne Rooney harmlessly over the crossbar. United nearly paid for their earlier wastefulness in the 49th minute when
Juan Pablo Angel was found dangerously loose in the box, but the linesman ruled him offside. A good move by United in the 51st minute starting from a throw-in from
Gary Neville ended in a shot skewed off-target by Ronaldo after a Giggs pass had found him.
United finally made the breakthrough in the 55th minute after Wayne Rooney cleverly dummied a shot before slipping Henrik Larsson the ball in the penalty area. The 34 year old striker was determined to score on his debut for Manchester United and did just that, drilling the ball high into the net with his right foot.
United were nearly two-nil up 3 minutes later. A surging Wayne Rooney run had culminated in Cristiano Ronaldo being slipped the ball and subsequently fouled outside the penalty area. The resulting
Ryan Giggs freekick beat the goalkeeper but failed to evade the woodwork, clipping the crossbar and deflecting over.
United's defending grew slack in the 67th min
ute after
Gary Cahill was givn the opportunity to head over from a corner, and a minute later crminal marking nearly allowed Villa the chance to equalise after Osbourne was found free only for Kuszcak to block his effort. Man Utd would pay for their carelessness in the 74th minute.
Milan Baros was astonishingly left unmarked in the penalty area by
Wes Brown, allowing Gary Cahill to play a through ball to him for Baros to score.
Henrik Larsson was taken off 4 minutes later for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, following a close header from a Giggs corner that saw the loose ball in the area cleared by
Aaron Hughes. United continued to press on for a winning goal, but there was little progress as Aston Villa stoutly blocked shots and made goalline clearances. Rooney nearly came close to putting Man Utd into the next round in the 85th minute, but his stinging drilled shot was tipped away by Kiraly. A good shot by
Michael Carrick 3 minutes later in the 88th minute was wide of the goal, and Villa must have thought that they had done enough to draw the game too. Manchester United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson must have thought so too in the 89th minute when he replaced Carrick with O' Shea, but the announcement of 4 minutes of added time drove Manchester United into a frenzy to score, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer broke Villan hearts in the 92nd as he once again scored in the dying minutes of a cup-tie to win the game for Manchester United.
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Hacjience Yukona
WEE
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