27 February 2006, by Sean Gillen

Showboating Ronaldo lifts second trophy

Manchester United 4-0 Wigan Athletic

Cristiano Ronaldo was on the scoresheet as Manchester United hammered Wigan 4-0 to lift the Carling Cup at the Millennium Stadium.

The Portuguese winger was in outstanding form as United won their first trophy since 2004 in front of 66,000 fans in Cardiff.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was surprisingly left out of the starting line-up and didn’t feature at any stage as Alex Ferguson rewarded Frenchman Louis Saha’s good form with a place up front.

It was an open game from the first whistle, with Wigan’s Henri Camara having the first chance after three minutes when his header failed to find the target, and Wayne Rooney then hit the bar after meeting a Gary Neville cross.

United soon began to look the more threatening side as the difference in class became obvious, with Ronaldo’s skill on the right wing catching the eye.

United took a deserved lead in the 33rd minute when Rooney capitalised on some slack defending and finished expertly past substitute goalkeeper John Filan.

Rooney may have scored again when Ryan Giggs found the young striker in the area but he couldn’t beat Filan as United went into half-time in control.

Wigan came out in the second half with nothing to lose and immediately caused United problems. Camara missed their best chance of the game five minutes into the second period when the Senegalese forward cleverly beat Rio Ferdinand but United ’keeper Edwin van der Sar blocked the shot at his near post.

United doubled their advantage in the 55th minute with an excellently worked goal. Ryan Giggs worked himself into some space in midfield before finding Ronaldo with a 40-metre ball and the Portuguese star played in the overlapping Gary Neville, whose cutback was tapped in at the second attempt by Louis Saha.

Ronaldo nets

Ronaldo made the game safe less than five minutes later when Wigan defender Stephan Henchoz’ clearance went straight to Saha, who found Ronaldo and, from just inside the area, the former Sporting star drove his finish into the far corner.

Ronaldo was booked for removing his shirt during his celebration and, after some crowd-pleasing tricks in the 15 minutes that followed his goal; he was replaced to a great reception from the United fans.

Wayne Rooney got United’s fourth and final goal just after the hour, turning a Rio Ferdinand knockdown in from close range. United’s other young superstar could have completed his hat trick two minutes later, but his chipped finish drifted wide of the Wigan goal.

The closing stages were played out with both sides continuing to attack but the final whistle brought an end to an exciting game and also to United’s two-year wait for a trophy.

Ronaldo picked up his second medal for the club, having produced a man-of-the-match performance in the 2004 FA Cup final win over Millwall. The winger recently gave an interview in which he underlined his commitment to winning trophies over many years at United and he and his teammates will be hoping that there are many more memorable occasions like this in the future.


Man United:
Van der Sar, Neville, Brown (Vidic, 83), Silvestre (Evra, 83), Ferdinand, O’Shea, Giggs, Park, Ronaldo (Richardson, 73), Rooney, Saha
Yellow Cards: Ronaldo, 60

Wigan:
Pollitt (Filan, 14), Chimbonda, Baines, Henchoz (McCulloch), De Zeeuw, Bullard, Scharner, Kavanagh (Ziegler, 72), Teale, Camara, Roberts
Yellow Cards: De Zeeuw, 46

Goals:
[1-0] Rooney, 33
[2-0] Saha, 55
[3-0] Ronaldo, 59
[4-0] Rooney, 61