Carling Cup: Scunthorpe v Manchester United full time report
Scunthorpe 2 Manchester United 5
Two goals from Michael Owen gave holders Manchester United a win over Scunthorpe at Glanford Park in the third round of the Carling Cup.
These two sides had never played against each other in a competitive match before tonight, and Scunthorpe will remember this game for all the wrong reasons, as the score line was extremely flattering for United.
Josh Wright put Scunthorpe ahead on 18 minutes with a wonderful strike from the edge of the area after he was picked out by Martyn Woolford. It was a second career goal for the 20-year old, and what a goal it was.
Darren Gibson drew United level four minutes later after he delightfully clipped the ball over Scunthorpe ‘keeper Joe Murphy from a difficult angle.
Chris Smalling scored his first goal for United after finishing from close-range with a quality finish on 36 minutes, getting onto the end of Ji-Sung Park’s drilled cross.
Owen clinically finished three minutes after the break after being put through by his strike partner Federico Macheda. Owen’s last goal came in the Carling Cup final last season against Aston Villa, and despite being quiet in the game, it was a typical Owen goal.
United added a fourth goal on 53 minutes after Park smashed a shot following a corner. It was United’s fourth chance, and their fourth goal of the game.
Owen scored his second of the night after a long dribble by Park resulted in his shot being parried by Murphy straight into the path of Owen.
Woolford scored a consolation goal in injury time, and it was a reward for him and Scunthorpe as they never let their heads go down since conceding the fifth goal.
The majority of the match belonged to Scunthorpe as they created countless chances and were very unlucky not to score more than once tonight, giving United a strong test and keeping United ‘keeper Tomasz Kuszczak on his toes for the whole game.
In the first half, Michael O’Connor had an effort with the outside of his foot on five minutes as Scunthorpe took the game to United. Scunthorpe temporary manager Ian Baraclough said he wasn’t going to sit back and let United play, and he was true to his word as Scunthorpe were playing well.
Wright fired in a shot from the edge of the box that fizzed wide of Kuszczak’s goal on eight minutes, while Eddie Nolan also had an excellent effort a minute later which was well saved by Kuszczak.
On 15 minutes, Woolford took a shot early which stung the fingertips of Kuszczak to continue the encouraging start the home side had made to the game.
Rafael was fortunate not to see a red card for a dangerous challenge on Scunthorpe skipper Cliff Byrne, but the challenge went unpunished by referee Mike Dean.
Byrne had a great opportunity from a corner kick on 32 minutes, but his header just went over the bar when he would have fancied himself to score. Kuszczak was lucky not to be embarrassed, as he almost diverted Jonathan Forte’s shot into his own net. Unluckily for Scunthorpe, the ball spun away from the target five minutes before half time.
Scunthorpe were straight on the attack at the start of the second half, keeping possession and putting pressure on United, but fell further behind thanks to two quick-fire goals from United.
Scunthorpe kept plugging away with the game seemingly out of their reach, having several chances with Kuszczak saving shots from different angles and being made to work hard.
On 73 minutes, United new-boy Bebé made his first appearance, with United fans wanting to get a glimpse of the Portuguese player, but at the same time they and the rest of the crowd got a glimpse of a streaker as well.
Scunthorpe couldn’t match Brentford’s heroics of the cup from last night, even though at times they could and should have scored more than they did tonight. A home tie against Ipswich Town is next up for the Iron, while United travel to Bolton in what could prove to be a tricky encounter.
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