Leeds 0 - 3 Man Utd

Leeds 0-3 Man Utd

By Sam Lyon BBC Sport

Michael Owen marked his first action of the season with a brace as Manchester United sauntered into the Carling Cup fourth round at the expense of Leeds.

The visitors, despite sporting 11 changes to the side that beat Chelsea at the weekend, were excellent.

Owen opened the scoring with a scuffed shot after good work by Dimitar Berbatov before lashing in a second.

Ryan Giggs made it 3-0 with a fine run and shot before half-time and that was enough to secure their progress.

It continues Manchester United's remarkable start to the season, the result at Elland Road making it seven victories and a draw from their eight matches so far this campaign, including the Community Shield.

And the nature of the win was all the more impressive given Sir Alex Ferguson reshuffled his entire team - not that the changes affected their rhythm at all.

A makeshift defence marshalled by Michael Carrick and young debutant Ezekiel Fryers was assured, a midfield flanked by Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf full of running and an attack led by Owen and Berbatov a constant threat.

The outcome might have been different had Leeds converted a fine chance early on, when Berbatov cleared off the line twice in quick succession - first from Tom Lees's header from a corner and then from Ross McCormack's follow-up.

But as it was that was the closest Leeds came to causing an upset.

Owen was their tormentor-in-chief, scuffing a left-foot shot home to open the scoring from Park Ji-sung's pass after Berbatov's sublime through-ball and then drilling a beauty into the top corner from just inside the area to make it 2-0.

DID YOU KNOW?

Michael Owen has now scored 18 goals in 19 League Cup starts for Liverpool, Newcastle and Man Utd.

Regarded by some as a nuisance, the Carling Cup must rank as one of Owen's favourite competitions - that brace representing his fifth and sixth goals in six Carling Cup games under Ferguson.

Leeds continued to battle gamely - with Adam Clayton particularly impressive in midfield for the hosts.

The boys in red always looked likely to cause problems, however, and Giggs continued the "valuable veterans" theme before half-time with an excellent goal, surging in from the left, nutmegging Robert Snodgrass and firing a rising finish past home keeper Andy Lonergan.

As a result the second half was far less competitive than the first, with Manchester United happy to sit on their lead and Leeds less keen to mix it up with Friday's league encounter against Brighton surely weighing heavily on their minds.

Owen remained a threat, chipping narrowly wide just before the hour mark and then having a goalbound shot from substitute Danny Welbeck's cross deflected wide.

However, the latter stages of the match were more memorable for the debuts given to Paul Pogba and Larnell Cole, and the centre-half pairing that finished the match for the visitors - Carrick paired with Berbatov after Fryers' exit through injury left them with 10 men for the final 10 minutes.

It was a move that only served to underline Manchester United's comfort level in a match which had its sting drawn almost entirely in the first half, the reigning Premier League champions cruising into the fourth round and Leeds left to concentrate on their promotion push.

The black spot of the night, however, was the chanting by Manchester United fans of songs referencing the night in Istanbul when two Leeds fans were killed in violent scenes - with reports also suggesting chants from Leeds supporters focused on the 1958 Munich air disaster in which seven Manchester United players died - chants that did neither the fans nor their clubs any credit whatsoever.

Lineup, Bookings (4) & Substitutions (6)

Leeds United

01 Lonergan
22 Lees
26 Bromby
28 White
48 O'Dea Booked
14 Howson
15 Clayton
10 Becchio (Forssell - 52' )
23 Snodgrass Booked
38 Keogh (Vayrynen - 52' )
44 McCormack (Nunez - 66' )

Substitutes

12 Rachubka
05 O'Brien
31 Taylor
07 Vayrynen
08 Brown
20 Nunez
18 Forssell

Manchester United

40 Amos
20 Fabio Da Silva Booked
51 Fryers
11 Giggs (Pogba - 46' )
13 Park Ji-sung
16 Carrick
25 Valencia
07 Owen
09 Berbatov
27 Macheda (Cole - 77' )
32 Diouf Booked (Welbeck - 70' )

Substitutes

01 De Gea
35 Brown
38 Keane
39 Thorpe
42 Pogba
52 Cole
19 Welbeck

Ref: Jones

Att: 31,031

Match Stats

Possession 35 65

Shots

9 10

On target

4 6

Corners

3 7

Fouls

16 13

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +2:04 Full time

Full Time The referee signals the end of the game.

90:00 +1:31

Effort from inside the area by Ramon Nunez misses to the left of the target.

90:00 +0:53

Free kick awarded for a foul by Tom Lees on Fabio Da Silva. Ben Amos takes the free kick.

90:00 +0:23

Tom Lees produces a cross, clearance by Michael Carrick.