From The Touchlines

THE CONTROVERSY: Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic had looked as though he had put United ahead with his powerful header, but a dispute ensued when Portsmouth’s Pedro Mendes cleared it off the line.

Wayne Rooney came off the bench and led Manchester United to a 2-1 victory over Portsmouth in the FA Cup fourth round.

The shine of the win was taken off by Pedro Mendes grabbing a late consolation with a deflected goal, but United held on.

United will next face another Premiership outfit in the form of Reading, who brushed aside giant-killers Birmingham City.

United had begun the match with Rooney on the bench and Cristiano Ronaldo given a day off. But the odds were still very much stacked against Portsmouth.

The first inkling of an exciting match came just four minutes into matchplay, when Pompey’s Gary O’Neil looked to have been upended by United keeper Thomas Kuszczak.

But Mike Riley and the replays showed that O’Neil may have just made a meal out of the non-challenge as Kuszczak appeared to have pulled his hands out of the way in time.

United got the ball rolling when Ryan Giggs brilliantly kept in a seemingly straying ball ahead of Glen Johnson, who had given up chase.

Giggs pulled the ball back nicely for Henrik Larsson, but Sol Campbell, who had been marking Larsson very closely, slid in just in time to put it out for a corner.

Campbell was in the business of saving face again three minutes later, after Mendes lost the ball rather cheaply in midfield to Giggs. The Welsh midfielder’s ensuing pass was nearly put into the net by Larsson, if not for Campbell’s quick reaction.

The resulting corner spawned another controversy, when Nemanja Vidic’s powerful header, which had crossed the line, was cleared by Pedro Mendes right foot.

The linesman did not have a good view of the incident, so the goal did not stand. Until FIFA moves to use video replays in football matches similar to the Hawkeye system in tennis, this is as much as we will get.

Nine minutes later, United’s French defender Patrice Evra beat the offside trap on the left wing, but was left disappointed as his low cross was completely missed by Park Ji-Sung.

The match then petered off before picking up again on 38 minutes, when Giggs displayed his prowess by breaking free from his marker and running down the left flank.

But his subsequent pass was not up to mark as the ball fell behind the onrushing Larsson.

Michael Carrick then saw his header from the ensuing corner tipped over with a reflex save by David James.

It was Park’s turn to show off three minutes later when he gave Pompey defender Lauren the slip and played a one-two with Larsson.

But Park’s finishing was way off the mark as he blasted into the stands.

The half ended on a stalemate, but Portsmouth came out bustling after the restart when Linvoy Primus headed just over Kuszczak’s goal to land on top.

On the other end, it was another defender in the form of United skipper Gary Neville to try his luck with a low drive, which was well held by James.

Mendes then provided a pass to former United great Andy Cole five minutes later, but the latter’s shot was weak and Kuszczak completed the clearance.

Six minutes later, United were in the lead. Or at least that was what Larsson thought.

Neville’s through ball had been so perfect as Larsson found himself in a good position and put the ball into the net.

Larsson then reeled away in delight, only for his joy to be shortlived, when the linesman flagged him off for being fractionally offside.

Midfield maestro Paul Scholes then struck one of his trademark drives, which was punched away by James four minutes later.

Rooney’s introduction on the hour mark in the place of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer almost immediately resulted in a goal.

A nice build up began with Larsson, who played the pass wide to Giggs and the move was completed with a close-range tap-in by Rooney on 77 minutes.

THE OPENER: Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney (right) coolly taps the ball in for United’s first goal against Portsmouth in the fourth round FA Cup match at Old Trafford. United won 2-1.

Harry Redknapp then brought his striker Benjani Mwaruwari on to help spur his flagging side, but Rooney sealed victory seven minutes from time when he struck an audacious chip that floated beyond a stranded James into the net.

Even Mendes’ deflected goal three minutes later barely brought any cheer to the visiting side. Perhaps, it was nervy for United towards the final whistle, but the outcome was clear.

Park could have added a third, if not for the upright that stood in his way two minutes from time.

THE SECOND: Portsmouth’s David James looks on helplessly as Wayne Rooney’s audacious chip floated beyond him into the net. Manchester United won 2-1.

Two days after securing a hard fought victory over Frenchman Jon Wilfried Tsonga, sixth seed Andy Roddick found another Frenchman waiting in the wings, in the form of Marc Gicquel.

Roddick did not disappoint, when he converted most of his break points for a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win over his French counterpart.

Roddick, who had dropped the first set in his first round match against Tsonga, broke early against Gicquel in the first set to go 2-0 up, and then consolidated his break to win the first set 6-3.

Gicquel then picked up the pace in the second set, sending Roddick running all over the court with his powerful first serves and patient shots.

It was in fact Gicquel’s poor first serve midway through the second set that nearly caused a break in his serve, but the American could not fully capitalise as Gicquel came back strongly to hold serve.

Gicquel was matching Roddick shot for shot in the second set as both failed to break each other’s serves for the set to go into a tiebreak, which Roddick won on his serve 7-4 with an ace.

Gicquel challenged the call but the review only served to prove that the serve had clipped the line. Roddick was all the more pumped up with a clenched fist.

The third set had gone pretty much the same way as the second, but Gicquel would come to rue the chances he missed to at least mount a comeback.

At the crucial point of 5-4 for Roddick, Gicquel went 15-40 down when his forehand landed in the net. He fought gallantly to come back at 30-40 but on his final serve, a long forehand wide ensured Roddick’s spot in the third round.

He joined top seed Roger Federer, who had earlier swept past Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

It should have been a breeze, but Australian Alicia Molik, despite a favourable draw, found her Chinese opponent just a tad too hot to handle.

But the Aussie, in front of the ‘Fanatics’, just squeezed 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) past unseeded Chan Yung-Jan in a pulsating first round match in the Australian Open.

Molik, who had been sidelined for two years with injuries and illnesses, breezed past her less illustrious opponent in the first set 6-2.

But she found the going tough in the second when Chan broke her serve in the sixth game to go up 4-2, as a result of a wild backhand slice.

However, Chan, who was the underdog despite both players being unseeded, failed to consolidate the break when Molik immediately broke back at 4-3.

Molik’s serve was broken again, and this boiled down to the fact she had problems making a slice on either side of the court. Her unforced error count was, surprisingly, higher than Chan, whom Molik had met before previously.

But Chan was not really doing too well either,  as she did not hit many winners compared to Molik. However, towards the tailend before the imminent tiebreak, she hit several beautiful forehands down the trumpline.

Molik did hold serve at 6-5 with a fantastic first serve and numerous blistering shots that got the crowd going behind her.

Molik eventually served out the set in the tiebreaker when she capitalised on Chan’s weak first serve and her tiredness to triumph over the 17-year-old, who had definitely given the Ozzie a run for her money.

SHEER ELATION: Manchester United’s Michael Carrick (face unseen) is swarmed by his teammates after he scored his first goal for United in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa.

South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung led the way as Manchester United carved out a relatively easy 3-1 home win over Aston Villa.

Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo took United’s tally for the season to 52 goals, with Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor grabbing a solitary goal for the visitors.

Henrik Larsson, who started despite Louis Saha’s return to full fitness, had the first real chance after five minutes when he headed from Gary Neville’s cross on the right, only to see Thomas Sorensen brilliantly save it with his right hand.

It was Park’s turn four minutes later when he found himself in a good position, only to completely miss the shot in the area, after Larsson himself was allegedly brought down in the area by Wilfred Bouma.

But there was no denying Park soon after, as the midfielder capitalised on some horrendous defending by Gary Cahill in the box to place his shot in the far corner of the net.

The floodgates opened after that with Michael Carrick scoring his first after Park set him up from precisely the same spot where the latter had scored.

It was only then were Villa woken up from their slumber, and were nearly rewarded 26 minutes on when Agbonlahor, with time on his side, shot straight into Edwin van der Sar’s hands.

But before they could craft out another opportunity, they were picking the ball out of their own net again.

This time Park and Carrick combined to lethal effect. Carrick had initially made a mess with the corner with 10 minutes of the half remaining, but Park rescued the situation by challenging Gavin McCann for the ball and winning it.

Carrick then latched onto the loose ball, placed a perfectly weighted cross into the far post, when Ronaldo gladly obliged with a powerful header that rendered Sorensen helpless and upset.

That was Ronaldo’s 13th Premiership goal of the season, which placed him as United’s top scorer, ahead of frontmen Rooney, Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Villa defender Liam Ridgewell did have a header on target four minutes later, but his somewhat tame effort was easily saved by van der Sar.

Wayne Rooney was then left cursing his bad luck after failing to convert from Ronaldo’s pass into the area. Ronaldo had made a fine run on the left.

But if United were blistering in the first half, Villa was close enough to that form in the second half.

They were promptly rewarded seven minutes after the restart when Agbonlahor stabbed home from close range, after Milan Baros overcame a sea of defenders to play a pass to the former.

United, who had taken their foot off the gas a little in the second half, then sprung to life 10 minutes later when Rooney tested Sorensen with an effort that was blocked by the keeper.

To spur United on, Sir Alex Ferguson brought on Louis Saha in place of the inspirational Park, and the French striker could have had his ninth Premiership goal with a sliding shot, only to see Cahill clear it off the line with his chest.

Both Larsson and Rooney had gilt-edged chances to put the match beyond doubt in the space of two minutes; Larsson’s shot was saved by Sorensen’s fingertips, while Rooney was terribly unlucky to see his lofted strike come off the bar.

That was virtually the last attack of the match as United trumped out winners over a Villa side who have not won in 13 matches in all competitions.

THAT’S THE FIRST!: Henrik Larsson (right) gestures to the crowd after putting Manchester United in front in the English FA Cup match against Aston Villa. United won 2-1. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did the victory run after scoring a last-gasp goal for Manchester United against Aston Villa to seal a  2-1 win and a place in the fourth round of the English FA Cup.

This, was after Henrik Larsson had put United in front with a nicely taken goal in the second half before Villa pulled one back with a Milan Baros goal.

Larsson could have had one within the first 15 minutes of the match when his header was saved by Villan Gabor Kiraly, following Rooney’s rampaging run on the right, a cross to Ronaldo and a deflected shot into Larsson’s path.

Another counter attack soon ensued with Rooney providing a nice through ball for Larsson, but saw his shot saved by Kiraly again.

Larsson then turned provider five minutes on, with a nice flick into Rooney’s path, but the latter could not convert from close range.

Then it was Villa’s turn to launch an attack in the United half, when Gareth Barry saw his freekick float just over the bar. The initial foul had been committed by Michael Carrick on Stilian Petrov, rather uncharacteristically.

On the half hour mark, Rooney had another chance in the area from a Cristiano Ronaldo cross, but his snapshot was somehow put behind the goal by the inspired Kiraly.

Seven minutes later, Rooney found himself in a good position after Larsson had pulled the ball back from him. But he dallied with his shot and before he knew it, the Villa backline were on to him in an instant.

Before Villa could gather their breath, United were on the attack again when Carrick’s dead through ball found Larsson deep in the area, but the latter saw his shot blocked by Kiraly’s outstretched legs.

United piled on the pressure towards the end with several nervy moments for Villa, but they just could not break down Villa’s resolute and resilient defence.

After the restart, the pressure continued with Villa again on the backpedal when Wes Brown’s header was deflected over the bar for a corner.

It was then Ronaldo’s turn to have a go at the defence with a run down the middle. But he lashed his shot way off the mark.

United were getting closer when Gary Neville, in acres of space on the right, put in a cross that flashed right across the goalmouth.

United did get off the block 10 minutes into the second half, when Larsson latched onto Rooney’s pass in the box and shot it into goal.

He just reeled away in celebration and was immediately pounced on by his teammates, who were clearly ecstatic over his goal.

United were almost 2-0 up three minutes later when Ryan Giggs’ freekick just hit the overside of the bar and went out, after Ronaldo had been pulled back.

Ronaldo then steamrolled past three defenders, only to find his shot on the side netting.

Villa were stung to life after that, when Gary Cahill just headed wide from a Gavin McCann corner.

Isaiah Osbourne came painfully close two minutes later when he shot straight at Thomas Kuszczak.

Brown then tested the Villa defence on the other end, but it was Villa who stunned the hosts with 17 minutes left.

Milan Baros, in a sea of United defenders, still managed to find space to turn and clinically finished off to level matters. The United defence were caught napping.

Sir Alex Ferguson then made an attacking switch when he brought on Solskjaer for Larsson, to a standing ovation for a brilliant debut performance by the Swedish veteran.

Rooney was again left a frustrated man after he drove just wide, after receiving a nicely taken pass from the Norwegian hitman.

With injury time in full play, Solskjaer did what he had done numerous times in the past: scoring a late goal.

Rooney turned provider this time, when after receiving a pass from Patrice Evra, played a low pass to Solskjaer, who drove in a shot which did just enough to roll underneath a helpless Kiraly and into goal.

There was sheer pandemonium after that in the Theater of Dreams, with Solskjaer just racing round the Villa half of the pitch, knowing very well he had clinched victory for the Red Devils.

He had done it again, at the expense of what had been otherwise an almost flawless performance by Villa’s emergency keeper Kiraly.