Manchester United 2 Crystal Palace 0
Louis Saha provided Sir Alex Ferguson with conclusive proof Manchester
United's Barclays Premiership goalscoring worries are only temporary.
The £12.8million French forward, who labelled his last-minute miss against
Manchester City on Sunday 'a disgrace' provided the one moment of inspiration on
an otherwise instantly forgettable night at Old Trafford as the Red Devils eased
into the Carling Cup quarter-finals.
Saha watched intently as Quinton Fortune's angled ball dropped towards the far
edge of the six-yard box. The former Fulham man took it down on his chest with a
sublime piece of control that took two Palace defenders out of the game.
Then, he deftly rolled the ball forward and smashed a near post shot into the
net.
It was his first goal of the campaign but, with more match practice behind him
there will surely be more to come and Ferguson must be tempted to unite Saha
with Ruud van Nistelrooy at Newcastle on Sunday as United chase the victory so
essential to revive their flagging title hopes.
Kieran Richardson is unlikely to be involved at St James' Park but the
20-year-old proved he is developing in the right manner, capping a fine
left-wing display with a goal that owed much to an error from Julian Speroni.
Sir Alex Ferguson's policy of using the League Cup as a breeding ground for
young talent or to give some of his fringe players a run-out is well established
so to see a United line-up showing 10 changes from the side that started against
City was not a surprise.
What did come as a shock was Iain Dowie's decision to field a completely
different team to the one that earned a creditable draw against Arsenal at the
weekend.
Even with a quarter-final berth at stake, it seems the League Cup is no more
than a reserve team affair and the subdued atmosphere was in keeping with the
way both managers had approached the match.
To say the game was a slow burner would be a supreme understatement. It was
fully 20 minutes before either 'keeper had a shot to save and even then Sandor
Torghelle should have done far better than drill an effort into Tim Howard's
body after John O'Shea had blundered close to his own area.
Saha opened the scoring soon afterwards with a goal totally not in keeping
with the rest of what passed for entertainment.
Speroni might have done better with the Frenchman's near-post effort but it
was hit at such close range, with such stinging power that criticism would be
harsh.
In any case, the former Fulham man deserved any good fortune going for the
sublime piece of skill that created the chance in the first place.
Having created a goal, Fortune, making only his second appearance since
mid-August after a recovering from a calf problem, then saved one, standing his
ground at the far post to nod away a Shaun Derry corner that was dropping into
the net after Howard had been unable to stop it sailing over his head.
It proved to be a timely intervention as United immediately launched the
counter raid which ended with Richardson doubling their lead.
If Speroni was not at fault for the first goal, he definitely was for the
second as he let the winger's shot bounce through his hands.
Gary Borrowdale was equally culpable for giving Richardson the room to cut in
off the right flank, not that the young Londoner was complaining as he
celebrated only his second senior goal.
With much to prove as United players, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba were
solid if unspectacular in the Red Devils midfield, outshone by Richardson and
David Bellion, who were providing the spark from wider positions.
Kleberson though did unleash a thunderous effort in the opening seconds of the
second half which Speroni did well to cling on to as Saha darted in, sniffing a
possible rebound.
The arrival of Vassilis Lakis at the interval providing the visitors' attack
with a much-needed cutting edge and it required some quick thinking by Howard
first to block his shot, then to hold him up long enough for Wes Brown to get
back and hack away when the follow-up eventually came.
It was United in command though and Speroni flung himself to his left to keep
out Kleberson's piledriver, which proved to be the Brazilian's last
involvement.
The 'keeper was nowhere when Djemba-Djemba blasted a 25-yard effort towards
goal shortly afterwards.
Fortunately for the visitors, Lakis was beside him on the line and he managed
to head the bullet shot away.
By the end, United were so much in command that Ferguson felt able to offer
17-year-old Giuseppe Rossi a five-minute taste of senior action.
By the time the Italian gets another chance, the Red Devils boss will expect
his side to have made a significant impact on the Premiership.
Teams
Man Utd Howard, Phil Neville, Brown, O'Shea, Fortune,
Kleberson (Spector 79), Fletcher, Djemba-Djemba,
Richardson (Eagles 79), Bellion (Rossi 86), Saha.
Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Ngalula.
Goals: Saha 22, Richardson 39.
Crystal Palace Speroni, Butterfield (Shipperley 77), Hudson,
Powell, Borrowdale, Leigertwood, Soares, Danze (Lakis 45),
Derry, Torghelle (Kaviedes 69), Freedman.
Subs Not Used: Kiraly, Boyce.
Booked: Hudson.
Att: 48,891
Ref: S Dunn (Gloucestershire).
