Northampton, Jan 26: Manchester United beat Northampton Town 3-0 in the FA Cup. Manchester United beat Northampton Town 3-0 at Sixfields on Sunday (January 25) to move into the fifth round of the FA Cup. United could have gone ahead as early as the 3rd minute when they were awarded a penalty for a push on Cristiano Ronaldo, however Diego Forlan's penalty was well saved by Lee Harper in the Northampton goal. The visitors had to wait until the 33rd minute to take the lead, Mikael Silvestre bundling the ball over the goal line following a scramble in the Northampton penalty area. Northampton competed well in midfield and United had to wait until the second half to add to their lead, Chris Hargreaves scoring in his own goal from a Ronaldo corner. The Cobblers kept battling away and were unlucky not to get a goal back when substitute Marc Richards shot crashed against the crossbar in the 59th minute.


Forlan made up for his earlier penalty miss and put the tie beyond Northampton's reach in the 67th minute when he scored from close range after Ronaldo had headed the ball down for him at the far post.


Northampton goalkeeper Harper pulled off another tremendous save in the 79th minute, turning United substitute Kieran Richardson's long range drive on to the crossbar.


Derek Asamoah came to scoring a consolation goal for Northampton in the final minute, hitting the post after Carroll had spilled substitute Paul Harsley's shot.


Holders Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all won on Saturday to take their place in the draw for the fifth round, which will take place at 1330 GMT on Monday.


Bureau Report