Manchester United produced a thrilling comeback against Aston Villa to win their third round FA Cup clash at Villa Park 3-2 despite being 2-0 down with 20 minutes remaining and it was Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's arrival on the pitch that inspired them to a stunning victory. However, the Red Devils could find themselves in trouble with the FA after hundreds of the club's supporters invaded the pitch following Van Nistelrooy's second goal that secured their place in the fourth round draw. United boss Alex Ferguson was forced to walk out on the field and appeal to fans to get back behind the advertising hoardings.
Villa had appeared to be cruising into the next round after they took a 2-0 lead early in the second half. Lee Hendrie set up Ian Taylor in the 51st minute and the Villa star held off the challenge of Neville before firing past Roy Carroll in the United goalmouth. This was followed up two minutes later with an own goal from full-back Phil Neville, putting John Gregory's side firmly in the driving seat. However, as United have proven once already this season, they can never be written off until the final whistle.
Ferguson immediately brought on van Nistelrooy, who had scored in seven successive games before tonight but had been left out of the starting line-up with a groin injury. Villa were now knocking the ball about with ease and it looked as if there would be no way back for United. However, in an incredible turnaround, United scored three goals inside four minutes. The first arrived on 77 minutes when Solskjaer pounced on a pass from Silvestre and with two superb touches to control the ball he fired brilliantly under the legs of Peter Schmeichel.
Three minutes later David Beckham headed the ball back across goal and van Nistelrooy shrugged off the challenge of Steve Staunton before blasting the ball into the top corner of the net. That resulted in a mini-invasion from the United supporters but they were soon back in their seats as they smelled victory and they weren't denied. Within 60 seconds, van Nistelrooy had struck again. This time, the Dutchman received the ball from Solskjaer, rounded the advancing Schmeichel before slotting it into the empty net.
Cue mass invasion from the visiting supporters and Ferguson made his way to the centre-circle to appeal to them to calm down and return to the stands. Eventually, the game was re-started by referee Graham Poll but on the final whistle, the fans poured onto the pitch, mobbing their heroes and van Nistelrooy and Beckham in particular, needed police assistance to make their way to the dressing room.
Afterwards, Ferguson admitted that he didn't want to bring on van Nistelrooy with his injury but was glad he did. "The second half was a fantastic cup tie and I thought we were extremely unlucky to be down. At that point I had to make the substitution. I didn't want to do it because Ruud has suffered from a groin injury. He came on and the whole game changed," he said.
In the subsequent fourth round draw, United were handed an away tie to either Wimbledon or Middlesbrough and Ferguson is looking forward to a possible head-to-head with his former assitant at United, Steve McClaren. "It's incredible to play against my former assistant, possibly, but the important thing is just to be in it because with 20 minutes to go we weren't - that's the great thing about the cup, the uncertainty of it," he added.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
