Southampton 0-4 Manchester United
The FA Cup, Sixth Round
12 March 2005
St. Mary's



Manchester United cruised into The FA Cup Semi-Finals with a comfortable win on the south coast.

The Cup holders, who have never retained the trophy in their history, produced a commanding performance to help erase memories of Tuesday's defeat against AC Milan in the San Siro which saw them knocked out of the Champions League.

Skipper Roy Keane, Ronaldo and Paul Scholes (two) all netted in a deserved win for the eleven-times Cup winners.

The result of the match, watched by England Head Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, was never in doubt from the moment Keane fired United ahead inside two minutes.

Newcastle were the last club to beat 2003 finalists Southampton at St Mary's in September. But once Ireland international Keane, who has played in a record six FA Cup finals, scored after just 85 seconds that statistic was always likely to be under threat.

Southampton, who overcame United in the 1976 Final to record their only FA Cup triumph, failed to clear their lines from a corner and Keane's subsequent shot deflected off Saints striker Peter Crouch's head to give Paul Smith no chance.

United could have added a second midway through the fist half but Saints goalkeeper Smith justified his selection ahead of fit-again Antti Niemi when he made a fine save from England striker Wayne Rooney's fierce 18-yard drive.

In a dominant United show, other than Henri Camara's brief bursts of pace and Crouch's occasional aerial threat, there was little to keep Reds goalkeeper Tim Howard busy in an impotent 90 minutes from Harry Redknapp's men.

Unsurprisingly, it was the visitors who produced the next chance as Smith was called into action to tip over a deflected 25-yard shot from Quinton Fortune.

Smith was proving to be a thorn in United's efforts to kill off the match. Two minutes before the break, Rooney turned Lundekvam inside out and his shot appeared destined for the bottom right-hand corner. Yet Smith brilliantly tipped the strike onto the post and Andreas Jakobsson cleared.

United were not to be denied, however, as Ronaldo, who scored the opener is last season's Final, fired home a second in first half stoppage time. Rooney was again at the heart of the action with a surging run to find Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy who set up the Portuguese international.

The visitors started the second 45 minutes as they ended the first - with a goal. This time van Nistelrooy was denied by Smith's heroics and Scholes rifled home.

As Saints' heads dropped, Smith was still proving to be the only barrier between United and a cricket score - emphasised again just before the hour mark when he foiled Van Nistelrooy.

With the game now safe, Manchester United took their foot off the pedal but they still had time to add a fourth when Scholes headed in van Nistelrooy's cross on 87 minutes.

Team Details

Southampton: Smith, Cranie, Lundekvam (Davenport, 45), Jakobsson, Higginbotham, Telfer, Oakley, Anders Svensson, Bernard (McCann, 62), Camara (Phillips, 80), Crouch.
Subs Not Used: Niemi, Nilsson.

Manchester United: Howard, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Heinze (O'Shea, 60), Ronaldo (Smith, 68), Keane (Phil Neville, 70), Scholes, Fortune, van Nistelrooy, Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Carroll, Bellion.

Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).