i was ver happy to see VAn Der Sar back.... Fabio Cappello was also present at the match....
more pics of the match of manu against a.viLLa
details of the match:
Manchester United continued their impressive record at Villa Park with two late goals from Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney sending them into the hat for the Fourth Round on Monday.
It began as a Cup tie with real purpose, both sides were intent on winning the game with attacking football and that was reflected by an electric atmosphere under the floodlights at Villa Park.
Although that early vibrancy was not sustained throughout the encounter, it was a significant tie as United won their fourth Third Round match against Villa in seven years, and it was the eleventh straight victory for the Red Devils on a ground that has served them well over the years.
With nine English players included from the start there was much for Fabio Capello to consider as he looked on from sidelines. In the early exchanges Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young showed pace and poise in wide areas, while the contest between Gareth Barry and Michael Carrick in central midfield was crucial to which side would take control the tie.
In the absence of Rooney from the start and Carlos Tevez completely, Ryan Giggs played in a central attacking role alongside Louis Saha on a ground with a great deal of history for the Welsh winger. It was Stiliyan Petrov who came closest to opening the scoring in the first 15 minutes as his high drive forced Van Der Sar to fly to his left, only for the ball to narrowly miss the target.
United responded as Giggs almost played Saha on goal only for the composure of Curtis Davies to deny the chance, minutes later Evra found space on the left flank and delivered a dangerous cross only for Giggs to head the ball into the Holte End rather than the net.
With a minute until half time Ryan Giggs spurned a glorious chance to give his side the lead, Cristiano Ronaldo worked an opening in the penalty area and drove his shot at goal. Scott Carson could not hold the effort and the ball dropped to the feet of the United skipper with an open goal, but his first time side-footed effort went wide.
The second period began more as a war of attrition than the attacking adventure that defined the opening spell of the first half, but with a place in the Fourth Round at stake both sides were eager not to make the mistake that could see them fall at the first hurdle.
The introduction of Luke Moore, Craig Gardner, Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves increased the English contingent on display, and Ashley Young went close to opening the scoring from distance. Evra and Anderson were left behind by the tackling ability of Reo-Coker who drove forward before finding Young free in the middle of the pitch, but Young's drive went narrowly wide.
Martin O'Neill replaced one of his former Celtic players with another as Petrov came off to be replaced by Shaun Maloney. Maloney's impact was almost immediate as a marauding run saw him skip past Carrick and Anderson before Ferdinand intervened.
Rooney and Ronaldo then combined in fantastic fashion for United as the substitute stole the ball from Reo-Coker and found his Portuguese teammate on the right flank. Rooney accelerated through the gears to catch up with Ronaldo who returned the ball only for Rooney to drive the ball over Scott Carson's goal.
Ronaldo made up for that miss moments later as he popped up in the right place at the right time to give the visitors the advantage with nine minutes on the clock. A fine move saw Anderson and Giggs combine before the Welshman guided a cross to the back post and Ronaldo prodded the ball home.
Another of the substitutes, Craig Gardner, went close moments before the end as Gareth Barry sent a floated cross and Gardner stole in between Vidic and Ferdinand to head the ball over. But United would not be denied as Rooney crowned the victory with a fantastic finish with just a minute to play.
Collecting the ball in midfield, Rooney looked to be playing for time only to spin and play a delightful 40-yard pass to Ronaldo, his shot cannoned off Laursen and Rooney struck the ball into the bottom corner beyond Carson.
Teams:
Aston Villa: 22 Scott Carson, 3 Wilfred Bouma (26 Craig Gardner 83), 4 Olof Mellberg, 5 Martin Laursen, 6 Gareth Barry (c), 7 Ashley Young, 10 John Carew (8 Luke Moore 61), 11 Gabriel Agbonlahor, 15 Curtis Davies, 19 Stiliyan Petrov (28 Shaun Maloney 75), 20 Nigel Reo-Coker
Subs Not Used: 13 Stuart Taylor, 16 Zat Knight
Manchester United: 1 Edwin Van Der Sar, 3 Patrice Evra, 5 Rio Ferdinand, 6 Wes Brown, 7 Cristiano Ronaldo, 8 Anderson, 9 Louis Saha (4 Owen Hargreaves 79), 11 Ryan Giggs (c) (22 John O'Shea 90), 13 Ji-Sung Park (10 Wayne Rooney 70), 15 Nemanja Vidic, 16 Michael Carrick
Subs Not Used: 38 Tom Heaton, 17 Nani
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Attendance: 33,630
