The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Third Round Proper
4pm, Sunday 4 January 2009
St.Mary's, Southampton FC
Live on Setanta
Winning clubs will receive £75,000 from The FA
The magic of The FA Cup was in short supply on the south coast as Manchester United produced an accomplished display to see off the challenge of Southampton and book a Fourth Round meeting with Tottenham Hostpur.
Danny Welbeck, a penalty from Nani and Darron Gibson sealed the 3-0 victory, and the result was never in doubt after Saints' Matt Paterson was sent-off in the first-half.
Referee Mike Riley was the villain of the piece in the eyes of the home fans at St Mary's, but replays showed he was right to give the youngster a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Nemanja Vidic.
But United were far superior throughout and deserved their victory, with goalkeeper Kelvin Davis easily the hosts' star performer.
The opening stages were closely fought, though, but the 11-times FA Cup winners eased ahead after 20 minutes.
The goal will have disappointed Southampton manager Jan Poortvliet as John O'Shea was allowed far too much room to meet Nani's corner, and although Davis pushed his header onto the bar, England U19 star Welbeck was perfectly placed to meet the rebound.
Controversy was not far away though, and reared its head when Paterson was dismissed ten minutes before the break. Although innocuous on first viewing, the challenge on Vidic was high and late and deserved the red card.
And any hopes Southampton had of getting back into the game were dismissed when United went 2-0 up just minutes after the break as Nani made no mistake from the spot after Riley had judged a handball against David McGoldrick whilst blocking Nani's free kick.
It appeared a question simply of how many the visitors would score, but they settled for just one more goal as Gibson fired home after Wayne Rooney had pulled the ball back to him.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side were in cruise control for the remainder of the game, but they will know that Harry Redknapp's Tottenham will provide a sterner test when they face them at Old Trafford in the Fourth Round.