FA Cup
Manchester United entered the 2009–10 FA Cup at the Third Round stage, and were the last home team drawn on 29 November 2009. They welcomed bitter rivals Leeds United to Old Trafford on 3 January 2010. Leeds reached the Third Round after beating Kettering Town 5–1 after extra time in a replay of their Second Round tie.
With a League Cup semi-final against Manchester City three days later in mind, Alex Ferguson opted for a mix of youth and experience for the Leeds match; the midfield quartet of Gabriel Obertan, Darron Gibson, Anderson and Danny Welbeck had an average age of almost 21, while Gary Neville and Wes Brown started in defence with Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov up front. United went into the game 43 places above their opponents in the league system and started on the front foot; however, it was Leeds who opened the scoring in the 19th minute, when a long ball forward found Jermaine Beckford, who held off Wes Brown before poking the ball past Tomasz Kuszczak in the United goal. In search of an equaliser, Manchester United had two penalty appeals turned down in the second half and both Rooney and Michael Owen missed the target from close range, but the goal never came and the match finished 1–0 to Leeds, their first win at Old Trafford since 1981. The result meant that United had been eliminated from the FA Cup at the third round stage for the first time under the management of Alex Ferguson – they last lost an FA Cup third round tie in 1984, when they were beaten 2–0 by Bournemouth at Dean Court.
| Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A |
Scorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 January 2010 | Round 3 | Leeds United | H | 0 – 1 | 74,526 |
Read more about this topic: 2009–10 Manchester United F.C. Season
Famous quotes containing the word cup:
“I know it does make people happy, but to me it is just like having a cup of tea.”
—Cynthia Paine (b. 1934)