Man U shut out Villa in injury time

The former Swedish international striker was picked out by Wayne Rooney and finished cleanly from 15 metres.

From then on it became a stream of United attacks with Ryan Giggs, Rooney and Ronaldo all going close.

However, the 11-times Cup winners then paid for their failure to finish as Villa finally roused themselves into a brief period of pressure.

After Gary Cahill and Isaiah Osbourne had threatened, substitute Baros beat stand-in goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak with a low shot after seizing on weakly-struck Cahill effort.

Just as it seemed Villa would hold out for the draw, Rooney fed Solskjaer in the inside right channel and the Norwegian striker, on as a 78th minute replacement for Larsson, fired in a crisp first-time shot that on-loan Hungarian international goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly somehow allowed through his grasp and over the line.

On Saturday, Arsenal ended Liverpool’s 20-match unbeaten run at home to knock the FA Cup holders out of the competition with an emphatic 3-1 victory in the tie of the third round at Anfield.

Two first-half strikes from the edge of the area by Tomas Rosicky laid the foundations and Thierry Henry ended the contest with a late goal on the break after Dirk Kuyt had pulled one back for Liverpool.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side face Liverpool again on Tuesday in a League Cup quarter-final at Anfield, said: “It was a real cup game against a very good Liverpool side.

“We showed character, good discipline, we were well-organised and when we were under pressure from Liverpool in the first half the goals came at the right moment.”

Elsewhere, Frank Lampard lifted the gloom around Chelsea by claiming his first hat-trick for the club as the Premiership champions swept into the fourth round with a 6-1 win over minnows Macclesfield.

Bolton Wanderers, West Ham United and Watford also progressed against lower league opposition while a last-minute Nwankwo Kanu header enabled Portsmouth to beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 in an all-Premier clash.

Two first-half strikes from the edge of the area by Tomas Rosicky laid the foundations and Thierry Henry ended the contest with a late goal on the break after Dirk Kuyt had pulled one back for Liverpool.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side face Liverpool again on Tuesday in a League Cup quarter-final at Anfield, said: “It was a real cup game against a very good Liverpool side.

“We showed character, good discipline, we were well-organised and when we were under pressure from Liverpool in the first half the goals came at the right moment.”