FA Cup Third Round: Man Utd Vs Villa

marcteng SG

Jan 07, Sunday, Man United Vs Aston Villa on Ch 24 @ 9.55pm at Old Trafford

I guess shd be a Man U win, shd be close though. Its Larsson first match for Man U and hope to see smith on the bench Mr. Green

I also think fringe players like wes brown, silvestre, richardson, ole, fletcher will b e given a run out

Keii SG

Man Utd ftw! Very Happy

zocoss SG

ENGLISH FA CUP - "Road To Wembley"

vs

ManUnited vs Aston Villa
Ch 24 - 10:00 pm - (Live)

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, O'Shea, Silvestre, Evra, Heinz, Fletcher, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Richardson, Rooney, Smith, Park, Solskjaer, Larsson.

Aston Villa : Sorensen, Taylor, Hughes, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Davis, McCann, Petrov, Barry, Osbourne, Whittingham, Agathe, Angel, Sutton, Baros.

Goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak will make his fourth appearance of the season in the third round, replacing Edwin Van der Sar, who is rested.

Ferguson said "Tomasz has been excellent. In terms of a match situation he has played only three games but his performances in training have been absolutely superb. "He is dedicated trainer, very quick and brave. He has a future the boy, no question of that. "It is a good game for him to take part in. "With European football beckoning next month it is important Tomasz gets a bit of football. "Edwin has been fantastic but I think he understands we need to give the boy some experience."

Even though they have crucial Champions League and Barclays Premiership fixtures ahead, Ferguson insists they are not taking the FA Cup lightly. He said: "It is a competition which creates a special atmosphere, no doubt about it, when you look at all the shocks over the years. "FA Cup history is full of United and Villa teams. We both have great records. "We are all looking forward to the game and I hope we can get a good run. "But we know it will not be easy against Villa as they are a very committed team under Martin O'Neill

Keeper Cup boost for Villans
Aston Villa have been given permission by Crystal Palace to play on-loan goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly in Sunday's FA Cup third round tie with Manchester United.

Eagles manager Peter Taylor is happy for the Hungarian to face the Red Devils in the televised clash at Old Trafford. It will be a relief for Villa manager Martin O'Neill, who still has fitness doubts over Thomas Sorensen and his number two Stuart Taylor - both sidelined with knee problems.

The Palace manager said: "If Aston Villa need Gabor for the FA Cup, then we are willing to allow him to play for them."

zocoss SG

FA CUP Man Utd 2-1 Aston Villa
Larsson strikes but Solskjaer sinks Villa in FA Cup

Substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sneaked a late winner to ensure opening goalscorer Henrik Larsson enjoyed a dream debut for Manchester United. Larsson capped a fine display when he volleyed in on 55 minutes to score in his first FA Cup tie.

United almost doubled their lead when Ryan Giggs' free-kick hit the bar before substitute Milan Baros equalised when he slid a low shot in the corner.

Solskjaer had the final say when a tame shot embarrassed keeper Gabor Kiraly. It was tough on Villa, who battled bravely and soaked up intense United pressure.

After a lethargic opening, United began to up their tempo and the movement of Larsson and Wayne Rooney started to cause Villa problems. A sublime one-two led to Larsson flicking a return volley into Rooney's path but the England forward shot tamely at the keeper. However, that effort proved to be one of Rooney's best in a first half where his touch often deserted him in the box and his shots from distance were slashed high and wide.

Yet when Rooney did produce the kind of effort expected of him, swivelling and stabbing a shot at the near post after sparkling wing work from Cristiano Ronaldo, Kiraly made a smart save. And there was better to come from Kiraly, who superbly diverted a low shot from Larsson after the Swede had been played through by Michael Carrick.

Moments before, Larsson had been the provider when he unselfishly squared the ball to Rooney, who wasted the chance by hesitating and allowing Wilfred Bouma to make a challenge. It typified stubborn Villa defending, although United's profligate finishing contributed to the deadlock remaining intact.

While the visitors soaked up the pressure, they carried very little attacking threat of their own - a Gareth Barry free-kick that curled over the bar was their only shot of note in the opening half. That clearly had not been lost on manager Martin O'Neill, who waited only seven minutes after the break before replacing striker Juan Pablo Angel with Baros.

However, two minutes later Larsson - who used to play under O'Neill at Celtic made the breakthrough. After collecting Rooney's pass on the edge of the area, Larsson flipped up the ball with one touch and with his second, lashed a volley into the top corner. The goal should have led to United assuming full control and had Giggs' free-kick hit the bar and gone in rather than over, the contest would have been finished.

But somehow, Villa dragged themselves back in contention and for the first time in the match began to create chances. Gary Cahill almost levelled the score when he shaved the post with a header after connecting with Gavin McCann's corner. And shortly afterwards, Barry's precise pass found Isaiah Osbourne but his effort was well saved by Tomasz Kuszczak.

Villa may have felt they had wasted their best chance but then Cahill's shot was trapped by Baros, who coolly slid the ball into the bottom left corner.

However, the drama was not over as Solskjaer prevented the replay Villa arguably deserved when he shot from the right and the ball squirmed underneath the unfortunate Kiraly.

Att: 74,924

zocoss SG

Ferguson hails goalscorer Larsson

Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted with Henrik Larsson after the Swede scored on his Manchester United debut to help beat Aston Villa 2-1 in the FA Cup. The United boss said: "He could have scored two or three. With his movement and experience, he was terrific. The goal summed him up, no drawback.

"Henrik has scored goals throughout his career and some of them have been crucial. Eric Cantona was like that. "We created a lot of chances and some of our football was terrific."

Villa boss Martin O'Neill knows all about Larsson's ability, having had him in his side when he was manager at Celtic. And he was generous with his praise of the striker, despite being disappointed by the defeat. "Henrik is always capable of scoring a goal like that," stated O'Neill.

"People said he would only score goals in Scotland and I never thought for one minute he wouldn't score in any league he chose. He has gone on to show that." O'Neill thought his side were heading for a replay after his decision to replace Juan Pablo Angel with Milan Baros paid off when the Czech striker equalised.

"We played our best football when we went behind and Milan took the goal splendidly, added O'Neill. "He has come on and shown his ability - the Milan Baros we know. Hopefully that will give his confidence a big boost.

"I am very disappointed at the result but United are always capable of scoring." United's winner owed a lot to a goalkeeping error from on-loan stopper Gabor Kiraly, who played in place of the injured Thomas Sorensen.

However, O'Neill refused to blame Kiraly, saying: "I am grateful to Gabor coming down from Crystal Palace as we were down on numbers. "He was feeling pretty good at half-time, he had made a good save. He is pretty downcast but that is the way it goes."

Ferguson, meanwhile, paid tribute to substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who hit the shot that wriggled under Kiraly to settle the tie. "That's his ninth of the season. We took off one good finisher and put another one on," he said. "I thought we were heading for a replay but we deserved the victory."

4getmenot SG

wat a debut by Henrik...

goes to show SAF still has better vision than mourinho who's paid millions on sven/ballack who still has not performed up to the mark.. Twisted Evil

red_amoeba SG

i hope SAF can extend Larsson's loan till end of season. Lethal finishing and superb goal with silky skills too. He showed how it should be done when the rest of the players, eg: Rooney are all banging on doors and not scoring.

the first goal by Larsson was superb, stopping the ball and then shooting all in one deft move...wow...

the second was down to pure goalkeeper error but kudos to Solksjaer....it only underlined why SAF valued him as an asset over RVN. His finishing is still effective.

now I hope Man U improve on their finishing to be more lethal. And boy, yesterday defense was caught napping again, how on earth did Baros get that pass ?

iceFatboy SG

the thing that put my smile back is Rooney's willingness to shoot.
however, whe he does, it is like through such a big crowd.
but hopefully he continutes, cause I feel that he is close to scoring.

iceFatboy SG

one key, our attacking flair is all to see, but we need to convert those chances... We are simply wasting too much of them..

given the MUFC of old, we got have a rout..

Dead_Man_Inc SG

larsson got nice touches as well Laughing

zocoss SG

FA Cup: Man Utd 2 - 1 Aston Villa

Henrik Larsson marking his debut for United

Solskjaer scores vs Aston Villa

ryangian SG

What worries me most is the ability to score in champions league matches... those teams in europe are not there for nothing and they too have a reputation for being a giant killer Rolling Eyes

Dead_Man_Inc SG

Man Utd really need to grab their chances well..
and yes, Rooney is way off form last night!

We were expecting Rooney to be sub-out, but it was Larsson...