Man Utd end Exeter fairytale
(sportinglife.com)
Updated: 2005-01-20 09:27

There were no upsets in the FA Cup on Wednesday nigth as Manchester United made it through to the fourth round with a 2-0 win over brave Conference side Exeter.

Wayne Rooney, seen here 12 January 2005, gave Manchester United the second goal in their 2-0 victory over non-league minnows Exeter City in the FA Cup third round.[AFP]

The Old Trafford side will not have many tougher encounters this season than their two matches against the non-league outfit who played almost 180 minutes of football before conceding the second goal which killed the tie.

United fielded a stronger line-up than the one which had been held 0-0 in the first game between the clubs and a rout looked to be on the cards when Cristiano Ronaldo put them ahead in the ninth minute with a goal he created mostly by his own efforts.

Picking up possession on the left flank, the Portugal international continued his run to receive Paul Scholes' return pass inside the area.

Exeter got a slice of good fortune 10 minutes into the second half as Wayne Rooney's shot was deflected past home keeper Paul Jones by Paul Scholes but got stuck in the mud before it crossed the line.

They almost equalised when Sean Devine volleyed into the side-netting and they had a strike rightly disallowed for offside in the 76th minute.

However, Rooney scored the goal which ended the Grecian resistance in the 87th minute to set up a home meeting with Middlesbrough in round four.

Fulham had an easier time against Coca-Cola Championship Watford and will take on Derby in the fourth round after comfortably beating the Vicarage Road side 2-0.

Moritz Volz gave them the lead in the 13th minute when Papa Bouba Diop released the German full-back, who beat Gavin Mahon and Jermaine Darlington as he drove into the area before drilling the ball home.

And Andy Cole's throughball set up Tomasz Radzinski for the game's second goal in the 65th minute.

Hartlepool will visit Brentford in round four after they came through a tricky replay 1-0 at Boston.

Adam Boyd got the golden goal for Pools, netting the winner on 72 minutes.

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