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29 January 2007, by Sean Gillen

Ronaldo rested as Rooney fires United into FA Cup last sixteen

Manchester United 2-1 Portsmouth

Wayne Rooney came off the bench to score two late goals as Manchester United booked their place in the final 16 of the FA Cup with a win over a spirited Portsmouth side at Old Trafford.

United boss Alex Ferguson rested several first team players, with Cristiano Ronaldo watching from the stands having recently been given a short break in Dubai, and Louis Saha and Gary Neville also not involved.

Pedro Mendes started for the visitors, and was involved in a controversial moment on 13 minutes when he cleared a Nemanja Vidic header off the goal line. Replays showed that the ball had clearly crossed the line, but referee Mike Riley waved play on.

It was particularly ironic that Mendes was the man involved, as the Portuguese was at the centre of memorable incident at Old Trafford two years ago while with Tottenham, when his long-range effort was famously disallowed despite crossing the line by some distance.

Portsmouth contested the match well, although struggled to create many good goalscoring opportunities during their ventures into the United half, and former Reds striker Andy Cole was left somewhat isolated up front.

United again came close to going ahead when Ryan Giggs broke down the left and crossed for Henrik Larsson, but the ball was slightly behind the Swede. From the resulting corner, Carrick’s header was brilliantly tipped over by Portsmouth goalkeeper David James.

Mendes influential

Portsmouth made a positive start to the second period, with the likes of Mendes and Kranjcar passing the ball around well. Defender Linvoy Primus went close with a header from a corner inside the first five minutes as Pompey underlined their danger in an open game.

There was then another seemingly good goal disallowed when Larsson latched onto a throughball and produced a clinical volleyed finish, only to see the linesman’s flag raised. Both Paul Scholes and Larsson then forced James into saves as Pompey began to look vulnerable.

Fearing a hugely inconvenient replay at Fratton Park, Ferguson introduced Rooney in place of Solskjaer, and the young forward made the difference just as Portsmouth were edging towards the final ten minutes.

Michael Carrick fed the ball to Larsson, who turned to play in Giggs on the inside left of the area, and the Welshman drove a low ball across the area for Rooney to tap in from close range to finally give United the lead.

Having waited most of the match for the opening goal, the 21-year-old doubled his side’s tally in sensational fashion five minutes later. Receiving the ball outside the area, Rooney spotted James off his line and produced an exquisite chip into the far corner.

Portsmouth gave the home side a late scare when Pedro Mendes’ drilled shot from twenty metres took a deflection off Kanu to leave United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak with no chance, but it proved no more than a consolation as United put their name in the hat for Monday’s draw.

Having taken the opportunity to rest a handful of first team players, United resume their challenge for the Premiership title on Wednesday against bottom-placed Watford at Old Trafford.

Carlos Queiroz (Manchester United assistant manager):

“We played very well against a good, well organised team. It is very difficult to play against Portsmouth, but I think we did well. We played good football, with some good attacking movements. We controlled the game for 90 minutes. Portsmouth only had a few chances on the counter attack, which was natural because we took a lot of risks during the game.”

“Our goal was to rest Wayne, as we did with Cristiano. But when it was necessary to put him on the pitch he came up with the right answer. I think at the moment he is doing very well, and especially the last three goals he has scored will help to give him the lift he needed.”

Man Utd:
Kuszczak, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Park, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs (Fletcher 85), Larsson, Solskjaer (Rooney 60)
Yellow Cards: None

Portsmouth:
James, Johnson, Campbell, Primus, Hughes (Douala 82), Lauren, O'Neil, Mendes, Taylor, Kranjcar (Mwaruwari 80), Cole (Kanu 62)
Yellow Cards: Hughes (64)

Goals:
[1-0] Rooney, 77
[2-0] Rooney, 83
[2-1] Kanu, 87