Barnsley 0-2 Manchester Utd
Owen scored United's second with a cool finish past Barnsley keeper Luke Steele
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Tuesday, 27, Oct 2009 09:38
By Matt Hallam.
Manchester United moved into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup as they beat Barnsley 2-0 at Oakwell thanks to goals from Danny Welbeck and Michael Owen.
Welbeck opened the scoring early on for United when he headed in Anderson's corner and Owen doubled his team's lead after half-time with a cool finish.
United were reduced to ten-men when Gary Neville was shown a straight red card but Barnsley failed to take advantage as they failed to hit the target with numerous attempts and were denied by a good late save from Ben Foster.
Sir Alex Ferguson made 11 changes from the side that lost to Liverpool as he lined up against one of his former players - Mark Robins - in the opposing dug out.
Summer signing Gabriel Obertan was handed his debut, while Foster returned in goal with Wes Brown and Jonny Evans in defence and Michael Owen partnering Federico Macheda in attack.
Obertan was involved straight away down Barnsley's left, exchanging passes with Rafael and sending in a cross for Owen. And United went into the lead from the resulting corner when Welbeck rose unopposed at the front post to head in Anderson's corner.
Welbeck almost added a second when he brought down Anderson's long ball in the box, but his shot was well saved by Luke Steele.
United looked dangerous on every attack though and had another chance when Owen played a ball through for Obertan, who was denied by Steele as he rushed off his line.
Barnsley should have equalised soon after though when Daniel Bogdanovic headed against the post with United guilty of defending in a manner which had allowed them to take the lead.
They continued to cause United's defence problems as the first-half wore on with Stephen Foster heading two corners over the bar in quick succession and Bogdanovic sending in a cross that Jon Macken could not quite stretch to meet.
Hugo Colace also sent a low ball across United's six-yard box before half-time but no Barnsley player got near the ball and Gary Neville was able to clear.
Owen had the chance to double his side's lead immediately after the restart but shot wide after being played through by Welbeck.
United's sense of adventure looked like it might be their undoing though as they continued to attack in numbers and when Barnsley broke quickly Bogdanovic should have done better with a shot he dragged wide.
Welbeck was replaced by Zoran Tosic after 55 minutes, and the Serbian international almost made an immediate impact as he curled his shot a fraction wide from 20-yards.
Barnsley could not keep United at bay for much longer though and when Owen burst past Darren Moore he made up for his earlier miss by slotting the ball past Steele.
Ferguson's team's comfort was short lived though as Neville was sent off for a challenge on Adam Hammill. The United captain appeared to take the ball, but caught the Barnsley midfielder high on the follow through, prompting referee Chris Foy to produce a red card.
With United reduced to ten-men Owen's night was cut short when he was replaced by Richie de Laet who filled in at right-back, leaving Wes Brown as Ferguson's most senior player.
Barnsley had a good chance to pull a goal back when substitute Iain Hume crossed for Bogdanovic, whose low shot was turned round the post by Foster.
Anderson De Silva got in front of Brown at the resulting corner but headed wide.
Robins' team continued to threaten as full-time approached and came close to scoring again when substitute Jacob Butterfield beat Brown on the edge of the box and released a low shot but Foster saved excellently as United held onto their lead.