New Delhi: Manchester United progress to the fifth round of the competition and end Harry Redknapp’s hopes of a historic FA Cup double. Tottenham took the lead through a quality Roman Pavlyuchenko header before Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov scored two quick fire goals to put the tie beyond the Lilywhites.
The game at Old Trafford saw the two most successful sides in the history of the competition come head to head. Alex Ferguson’s injury hit side came from behind to triumph over Harry Redknapp’s patchwork Tottenham team.
The result see’s Manchester United progress into the fifth round draw and ends Redknapp’s hopes of becoming the first manager to ever eliminate United with four different clubs, at least for this season.
Despite a tentative start from both sides it was Tottenham that opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a well worked goal. A slack clearance saw the ball fall to Tom Huddlestone on the right flank, he drove to the edge of the box and floated a teasing ball into the middle.
Lone striker Roman Pavlyuchenko ran intelligently across an unusually flat-footed Nemanja Vidic and his glancing header into the far corner left goalkeeper Ben Foster routed to the spot. It was a classy finish from the Russian who has scored five times in his last six appearances for the Lilywhites.
Tottenham then understandably retreated into their own half, hoping to defend their lead. Though Manchester United dominated possession Spurs were resolute in their defending, working hard to close down their opponents.
The Red Devils’ did create chances but were largely restricted to snapshots, Carlos Tevez coming closest with a 20 yard shot stinging the crossbar. In truth deputy keeper Ben Alnwick had it covered.
United grew into the game with youngster Danny Welbeck impressing from his position wide on the right.
The starlet cut in from the flank and exchanged passes with Berbatov before being denied by a superb block from Chris Gunter. It was backs to the wall for Spurs and Argentinean forward Tevez had a superb strike well saved from 12 yards by the former Sunderland goalkeeper in the 21st minute.
It was looking increasingly like it was a matter of when rather than if United would score and the Red Devils’ subjected their guests to a two minute nightmare at the Theatre of Dreams.
Paul Scholes got the equaliser following a marauding break from Tevez. The ball went out for a corner and the ginger-haired genius was teed up for a classic drive from 25 yards. His grass cutter caught the heel of Tom Huddlestone on the way to the back of the net, it was a piece of fortune that United probably deserved for their attacking endeavour.
Less than 90 seconds later the game was effectively over as a contest. If the opening goal was fortuitous then the second was sublime. Former Tottenham favourites Michael Carrick and Bulgarian Berbatov combined brilliantly with the England international spotting a cute run from Berbatov early and stroking the ball into his path from the half way line. The £30million man killed the ball in an instance and rifled the ball into the far left corner from 20 yards before the nearest defender could even get close.
Tottenham did have opportunities to get back into the game, before the half was up David Bentley skipped past Scholes and saw his long-range effort fly agonisingly close, not quite dipping enough to beat the crossbar.
The second half was a controlled performance from the Premier League and European Champions and they restricted Harry Redknapp’s side to very few opportunities. Early in the half a teasing Bentley cross saw Gareth Bale beat his marker and his shot flashed wide from close range. On the 56th minute Benoit Assou-Ekotto found himself in space beyond the fullback, he was picked out by an increasingly influential Huddlestone and the left back’s cross found Bentley on the right-hand side of the 18 yard box. The wide man’s first time shot flashed just past Ben Foster’s left-hand post with the young English goalkeeper struggling to scramble across to cover.
Just after the hour mark Spurs broke again and had a man over but failed to make the opportunity. Substitute Giovani Dos Santos picked out Bentley who could only fire straight at the keeper. United stepped up their control from this point and largely controlled proceedings, with a few half-opportunities at either end.
Tottenham, however, piled on the pressure towards the end of the game. Assou-Ekotto leaving substitute right back Richard Eckersley for dead, driving to the by-line and cutting back for former Barcelona starlet Dos Santos. The prodigy could only send his first time effort high over the bar and will be disappointed not to have done better.
In the final minutes the Lilywhites pressed hard, but were unable to break down a resolute United defence. Manchester United progress to the next round and Tottenham are left to focus on their Premier League survival and a showpiece Carling Cup final which pitches them against tonight’s opponents.
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