ENGLISH LEAGUE THIRD ROUND: Leeds Utd 0 3 Manchester UtdPROBABLY THE best compliment that can be paid to Manchester United is that their reserves play with the style and panache we have come to expect of the first team. They made this an ignominious night for Leeds United, dismantling the Championship side with so little difficulty that it was easy to forget sometimes that Alex Ferguson had given his first XI the night off.
Michael Owen scored two of the goals for a team rippling with confidence. Ryan Giggs scored the other and for Leeds the final whistle must have had the effect of smelling salts. In truth, it had become apparent much earlier that there would not even be a hint of an upset. Ferguson’s team had scored all their goals by half-time and even if they sometimes give the impression they do not entirely cherish the League Cup at Old Trafford, this still represented an evening of huge satisfaction for a team who began with no recognised centre-halves and four centre-forwards.
Even by Ferguson’s standards of experimentation, it was an eccentric selection. Michael Carrick, a midfielder once likened to Glenn Hoddle, made an unorthodox centre-half. He was partnered by Ezekiel Fryers, a youth-academy graduate making his first-team debut 11 days after turning 19. Fryers, tipped by Rio Ferdinand to play for England in the 2018 World Cup, is normally a left-back.
Mame Biram Diouf and Federico Macheda, two reserve strikers, started as wingers. Antonio Valencia, signed as Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement on the wing, was at right-back.
Ben Amos, the third-choice goalkeeper, was a virtual spectator for long spells, having been promoted ahead of David de Gea and Anders Lindegaard. The seven substitutes were aged 18 to 20, including five players with no first-team experience. This was a team that ought to have been vulnerable – but Leeds never even sought to investigate.
The gulf between the clubs was apparent from the start. Ferguson’s team may have had a makeover, but they played with the confidence and fluency that has been evident in five Premier League matches that have brought 21 goals and maximum points.They knocked the ball around with an ease that was infuriating for Leeds manager Simon Grayson and by half-time the match had become an exercise in damage-limitation for Leeds.
A lot is made of the crowd’s hostility on these occasions but Ferguson had enough players with big-game experience for his team to play with a seen-it-all-before air. Berbatov was prominently involved. Giggs was magnificent in his 45 minutes before he made way for a debutant, Paul Pogba. As for Owen, this was the best way possible to demonstrate why he believes he should have more time on the pitch.
The first goal stemmed from a flowing move on the right, Giggs linking with Berbatov before Park Ji-sung turned the ball into Owen’s path. The striker’s first touch took him inside Tom Lees; the second was a left-footed shot through the defender’s legs and just inside the post. The shot was scuffed and a little fortuitous but Owen’s second goal could hardly have been struck more cleanly. It was something of a rarity, too – an Owen goal from outside the penalty area. Again, it originated on the right. Diouf, an enthusiastic runner, crossed. Owen took one touch before driving a brilliant shot into the top corner.
Leeds’s big night was turning into an ordeal. In first-half stoppage-time Giggs ran at Aidan White, slipped the ball through his legs and continued into the penalty area. His shot flicked off Luciano Becchio to deceive the goalkeeper, Andy Lonergan, for 3-0.
Leeds were probably fortunate that, with the game effectively won, their opponents did not play with the same urgency after the interval. Even so, Fryers must have been wondering whether it will always be this easy and Carrick coasted through the game like an old hand at this defensive lark.
Guardian Service
LEEDS UTD: Lonergan, Lees, Bromby, White, ODea, Howson, Clayton, Becchio (Forssell 52), Snodgrass, Keogh (Vayrynen 52), McCormack (Nunez 66), Booked: Snodgrass, O'Dea. Subs not used: Rachubka, OBrien, Taylor, Brown.
MANCHESTER UTD: Amos, Fabio Da Silva, Fryers, Giggs (Pogba 46), Park Ji-Sung, Carrick, Valencia, Owen, Berbatov, Macheda (Cole 77), Diouf (Welbeck 70). Booked: Diouf, Fabio Da Silva. Subs not used: De Gea, Brown, Keane, Thorpe.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
