THE FA CUP FINAL
MANCHESTER UNITED

MILLWALL

Paul Scholes celebrates scoring against Aston Villa in the Third Round.
Road to Cardiff
Friday, 14 May 2004.
TheFA.com looks at how the two FA Cup Finalists reached Cardiff starting back in January and the Third Round.
|
Aston Villa |
1-2 |
Manchester Utd |
|
Barry |
|
Scholes 2 |
United's 91-day run to Cardiff began successfully at Villa Park and would go on to be completed there with victory over Arsenal in the semi-finals.
Prior to a difficult looking Third Round tie, Olof Mellberg had warned his team-mates not to switch off for a second when Ruud van Nistelrooy was around.
But the Dutchman was rested and the Villa defence forgot to keep their eyes on a certain Paul Scholes.
His double in five second-half minutes after Gareth Barry had put Villa ahead early on set the Reds on their way.
|
Millwall |
2-1 |
Walsall |
|
Braniff |
|
Leitao |
|
Cahill |
|
|
The Third Round pitched Millwall up against First Division rivals Walsall.
Jorge Leitao snatched a 12th minute lead for the Saddlers after a defensive slip but Dennis Wise's side fought back and, by the break, were 2-1 up through a Kevin Braniff strike and a Tim Cahill header.
It was a taste of things to come.
ROAD TO CARDIFF
14 May 2004