ROUTE TO WEMBLEY
Our third-round victory at Aston Villa – Paul Scholes’s five-minute brace making light of Gareth Barry’s first-half opener – was followed by a comfortable 3-0 success at Northampton Town. A Valentine’s Day fifth-round derby pairing resulted in a 4-2 victory over City (and a sending-off for Gary Neville).
It was a frantic final 20 minutes, with two goals from Kevin Keegan’s Blues exchanged with three United strikes. Next up, Fulham: Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first of two goals swiftly cancelled out Steed Malbranque’s effort, before the Reds overcame a sinew-stiffening challenge from domestic pace-setters Arsenal to reach the final in Cardiff.