Manchester United vs. Crewe Alexandra (Carling Cup - 3rd Round)

Gresty Road, home of League One side Crewe Alexandra, proved to be a daunting place for the Red Devils as they left it late to secure victory.

Fergie expectedly fielded a weakened time, but the good news was the inclusion of Alan Smith in the starting eleven, his first start in nine months.

With the likes of David Jones and Ritchie Jones in the line-up amongst other youngsters, United found the going tough as Crewe dominated for most parts of the game. We were down right sloppy to be honest, a feeling echoed by Fergie at the post-match conference, Crewe were allowed far too much time and space on the ball which allowed them to settle and dominate for large parts of the game. The youngish team still had full seven internationals, but there was little evidence of it on the field.

Ole continued his good form with a neat finish to put us one-up after a cut back by Ritchie on 26 minutes. Crewe drew level through Luke Varney on 73 minutes and he nearly scored another only for Kuszczak to save with his legs.

Both sets of players looked visibly tired as extra time drew to a close, but fortunately for us an incisive through ball from Smith was put away nicely by the young Kieran Lee rifling in a low-shot which their keeper couldn’t keep out.

Fergie was disappointed with the performance and rightly so, read his reaction here.

Other Reports: BBC, Soccernet.

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