Ronaldo & Rooney Seal FA Cup Spot

By David Hobbs & Chris O'Brien
January 19 2005

Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to call on his big-name stars to see off Exeter City, as United won an intriguing third round replay 2-0 in Devon. The travelling Red Devils faithful were expecting a rout but the hosts put up a brave fight as Ronaldo and Rooney got the goals.

Ronaldo & Rooney Seal FA Cup Spot

Exeter City 0

Manchester United 2
Ronaldo 9
Rooney 87

Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to call on his big-name stars to see off Exeter City, as United won an intriguing third round replay 2-0 in Devon. Ronaldo opened the scoring early-on, and most of the travelling Red Devils faithful were expecting a rout but the hosts, in their unfamiliar black jerseys, battled hard and restricted United until Wayne Rooney found an 87th minute winner.

United fans enjoyed terracing as the wind swept around the real St. James' Park in Devon. A packed ground, although still less Grecian supporters than the 9,000 who made the journey to Old Trafford, were all anticipating a comfortable victory for Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Sir Alex Ferguson really didn't need this fixture, but the lack of respect he showed to Alex Ingelthorpe's Exeter and the Cup as a whole in the first match at Old Trafford. The big guns were brought out for this visit to South England with Ronaldo, Rooney and skipper Giggs leading the attack.

Cristiano Ronaldo took a massive burden off the United bench when the Portuguese winger converted Paul Scholes' neat through-ball from down the left wing, where the Red Devils constantly penetrated, with just under 10 minutes on the clock. Exeter's young goalkeeper Paul Jones was left hapless as Ronaldo struck home from an acute angle.

Ronaldo could have added one or two more goals to his dry tally in the first half but blazed several long-range efforts over the bar.

Skipper for the night Ryan Giggs had the chance to double his side's advantage shortly before the interval with a 10-yard shot that flew just wide. 

Exeter surged forward in the closing stages of the half and nearly found an equalizer. Sean Devine's flicked header dragged across Tim Howard's goal and was left untouched by Exeter's attack, much to United's relief.

As expected, the conditions seemed to help Exeter as United were denied a second due to a patch of mud. The soggy-mess blocked the path of Wayne Rooney's goal-bound turn and shot.

The influential Devine fizzed a volley wide before Tim Howard was forced to produce acrobatics to deny Taylor's thunderbolt free-kick. Devine was then disallowed a deserved-goal after the shot was correctly deemed offside the by the linesman.

It took 30 million pound's worth of talent to wrap-up the victory as Wayne Rooney rounded 'keeper Jones to slide home a well-taken goal.

The Red Devils will now take on Middlesbrough in the 4th Round.

Final Score: Exeter City 0 - 2 Manchester United
Att: 9,003

Exeter City: P Jones, S Hiley, G Sawyer, S Gaia, A Jeannin, D Moxey, A Taylor, K Ampadu, D Clay, S Flack, S Devine Subs: M Rice, C Todd, J Edwards, L Afful, M Martin

Manchester United: T Howard, P Neville, G Neville, J O'Shea, Q Fortune, R Giggs, L Miller, P Scholes, E Djemba-Djemba, C Ronaldo, W Rooney
Subs: L Ricardo, L Saha, D Bellion, D Fletcher, M Silvestre

Refereed By: P Dowd