United ease past furious Saints
Nani scored a controversial penalty at the start of the second half
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Sunday, 04, Jan 2009 09:05
Manchester United have strolled into the FA Cup fourth round after beating ten-man Southampton 3-0 at St Mary's Stadium.
Danny Welbeck, a controversial Nani penalty, and Darren Gibson's strike sees United set up a fourth round clash with Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.
The Saints had Matt Paterson sent off by Mike Riley in the first half for a lunge on Nemanja Vidic.
Furious Saints fans booed Riley at the final whistle, believing the official cost his side the chance of an upset.
But United's under-strength side had dominated before Riley's decisions against the home side.
Keeper Kelvin Davis made fine saves to keep out Nani's drive early on while Welbeck's venomous effort was blocked.
Davis continued to foil the visitors with a sensational save to tip Nani's strike over the bar. And from the corner the deadlock was broken with Davis pushing John O'Shea's header on to the post. Welbeck was quickest to react, poking the ball in on the rebound after 20 minutes.
Southampton had Chris Perry to thank for keeping them in the game after last-ditch challenges to deny O'Shea and then Michael Carrick.
But the Championship side's hopes of salvaging something were destroyed on 37 minutes when Paterson was shown a straight red for a high tackle on Vidic, having been warned by Riley previously over his crunch challenges.
They were forced to weather the storm for the rest of the half with Davis sticking out a foot to stop Wellbeck's shot creeping in.
But their luck took another turn for the worse minutes into the second half when David McGoldrick was penalised for handball when replays showed the ball struck the back of his head. Despite the protests, Nani tucked away the penalty to double the lead.
Saints youngster Ryan Smith came agonisingly close to providing some cheer for the home fans with a mazy run but shot wastefully wide.
United continued to bombard the Saints goal with shots in the closing stages and sealed victory on 81 minutes when substitute Wayne Rooney's cross was volleyed in by Gibson for his first goal.
Rooney continued to spearhead the attack and came close to a goal but Davies palmed away his volley, as the Saints clung on to keep the score respectable.