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A reserve United side were emphatically beaten 3-0 by Aston Villa this evening and bow out of the Worthington Cup. A side of youngsters, some with very little reserve let alone first team experience, were out-classed by a rampant Villa outfit. The home side were all over United from the first whistle. Lee Hendrie should have scored in the opening five minutes after good work from Julian Joachim and moments later Joachim was clean through but Mark Bosnich - booed by the home fans throughout - saved well. John Curtis went into the book early on for up-ending the lively Joachim, but the former Leicester City striker got his revenge after 18 minutes with a lovely opening goal. Collecting a sweeping cross-field pass he turned young John O'Shea inside out before firing in a belter with the outside of his right foot. Straight after the interval, Villa made it two. A long-throw
by young Mark Delaney was flicked on by the lively Joachim and lashed into
the net from close range by Ian Taylor.
Sir Alex Ferguson will shed no tears at his team's exit from this competition, but Villa can look at this as a route into Europe next season should it all go pear-shaped again in the League! The 'home and away' draw for the fourth round, held on Sky Sports tonight, pitted Villa at home to Arsenal. |