QUE SERA SERA

From the Telegraph

If Watford were to ensure Sir Alex Ferguson lost an FA Cup semi-final for the first time as United manager, they would probably have to score first. If they did find the net, they would have to keep the pressure on for about 15 minutes and they would have to blunt the three daggers aimed at their heart - Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo.

In the event, Rooney scored fabulously after seven minutes and when Hameur Bouazza, the one player in Aidy Boothroyd's side who would merit consideration for Ferguson's bench, equalised, Watford were on level terms for precisely two minutes.

Afterwards, Boothroyd reflected it was unrealistic for him as Watford manager to expect United's key performers to be all off colour. Giggs and Ronaldo had subdued evenings but Rooney was, in the words of Watford's captain, Gavin Mahon, unplayable.

There was one moment that defined Rooney's evening. Bouazza had just scored, United needed to regroup and, when the ball went out to the Watford left flank patrolled by Jordan Stewart, he seemed likely to see off any threat from Rooney. That was to reckon without a man whose face, as he charged towards the defender, was a peculiar mixture of anger, determination and confidence. Stewart did not stand a chance. Rooney took the ball, outpaced him, drew the keeper and made a present of Ronaldo's 21st goal of the season. Beauty as simplicity.

When Rooney scored the third, after a period of Watford pressure against a defence that with Rio Ferdinand's withdrawal with a groin injury was a completely makeshift unit, a toilet roll flung down from the Witton End and a rush forward by the entire United bench signalled the end of the contest.

United have taken the high, hard road to Wembley. By the finish, they barely had a defence worthy of the name - Darren Fletcher at right-back, Gabriel Heinze at centre-half, Edwin van der Sar boasting another bruise to an already busted nose, again looking inexplicably out of form.

Ferdinand may recover in time to face Middlesbrough next Saturday while Gary Neville could be fit to play AC Milan in another, far more equal, semi-final. Otherwise, this is what Ferguson has to work with until the end of this long, draining season.

As in 1948, United reached Wembley after playing only opposition from the top-flight. Then, it had been a very different club - Old Trafford was unusable because of bomb damage. Matt Busby's players were on the brink of strike action over win bonuses. And Hillsborough, unlike Villa Park on Saturday, was seam-burstingly full. But then as now it was decided by one player - Stan Pearson then, Rooney now.

For Rooney this would be the third time he would go to an FA Cup final. The previous two he had seen United lose although, as an eight-year-old supporting Everton, their defeat in 1995 caused him no pain. The one to Arsenal a decade later, he described as "the worst moment of my career". Worse than defeats to Portugal in Gelsenkirchen and Lisbon? Apparently so.

The Times

Even a showman of Cristiano Ronaldo's capricious talents had had enough of terrorising opponents for one week. As Manchester United took a 3-1 lead at Villa Park on Saturday evening, ending Watford's brave bid to resist the inevitable, the 22-year-old gestured to Sir Alex Ferguson that he wished to take a well-earned break just as soon as they scored their fourth.

There is simply no let-up for a team chasing success on three fronts. Ferguson often recalls how the decisive factor in their remarkable treble triumph in 1999 was that they had an empty treatment room and a full squad to choose from. At present it is difficult to see fortune smiling on them like that again, with Rio Ferdinand limping off in the first half on Saturday to become the fifth of their senior defenders to succumb to injury, but they continue to make light of such setbacks.

Ferdinand underwent a scan on a groin strain yesterday morning and the encouraging news is that he should be back for Saturday's meeting with Middlesbrough or, failing that, the first leg against Milan a week tomorrow. Gary Neville might not be too far behind him in the comeback stakes, but this is not the time of season to have defenders dropping like flies. Ferguson suggested they were "down to the bare bones" defensively and, while a makeshift back four just about stood firm in the face of a characteristic aerial bombardment from Watford on Saturday, it is hardly ideal at a time when there is so much at stake.

Four goals or not, United looked like a tired team for periods on Saturday after their midweek exploits against AS Roma. A better side than Watford might have exploited that fatigue, particularly with Adrian Boothroyd having devised a strategy to unsettle them at setpieces, but their hopes were dented as early as the seventh minute, when Wayne Rooney stepped inside the challenge of Adrian Mariappa and beat Richard Lee with a stunning shot from the edge of the penalty area. So much for best-laid plans.

Briefly, that appeared to be it for Watford. Their supporters, already resigned to relegation, must have feared that United might match the seven goals they scored against Roma four days earlier, but Boothroyd's team have plenty of fight. There was maybe a little too much fight for Edwin van der Sar's liking, as the goalkeeper was jostled at a number of setpieces, but there was no doubting the quality of their equaliser, hooked in acrobatically by Hameur Bouazza in the 26th minute as United struggled to deal with Gavin Mahon's long throw-in.

United's reaction said much about their character as well as the quality that flows through their team. Smith, who again led the forward line well, sent Rooney clear down the right and the England forward bided his time before setting up Ronaldo for the kind of chance a player on a new £120,000-a-week contract dare not miss.

Again, Watford responded well and might have scored during a encouraging spell early in the second half, but Smith set up Rooney for the all-important third goal in the 66th minute, prompting Ronaldo to make his gesture to the bench. Richardson scored a well-taken fourth with eight minutes remaining, a fitting riposte to those United supporters who had jeered him on to the pitch, and that was it.

The Indie

The cameras focused on the sublime skills of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney but on Saturday night Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, preferred to dwell on more prosaic qualities: courage and desire.

Even the best footballers have to earn the right to play, especially against opposition which seeks to bridge with commitment a yawning gap in class. That was the case for Manchester United at Villa Park after Watford showed they would not go quietly from the FA Cup semi-final, not even after Rooney's stunning opening goal.

If his finish, from Michael Carrick's pass, was deadly, it was another aspect of Rooney's game which illustrated the magnitude of Watford's task.

Two minutes after the impressive Hameur Bouazza had hooked in Tommy Smith's cross to level the score, Rooney, inside his own half and on the right flank this time, attempted to release Alan Smith. The pass hit Jordan Stewart's heel and looped up. Stewart and Tommy Smith were closest but Rooney tore towards the falling ball. The look of intent on his face was intimidating from a comfortable seat 30 yards away. He brushed past Smith and launched himself at the ball, heading it towards Alan Smith. Rooney landed and kept running, past Clarke Carlisle, on to Smith's pass, and towards Richard Lee. The Watford goalkeeper could only deflect his shot for Ronaldo to tap in. It was a goal forged by sheer desire.

There is bravery, also, in Alan Smith's return from serious injury. Smith is the same unflinching competitor he was before his broken leg. He has also regained his touch. He cleverly dummied Carrick's pass for the first goal, his pass for United's second was perfect, he provided the third, tapped in by Rooney, and laid on the fourth, well taken by Kieran Richardson.

"Alan Smith has brought a breath of fresh life to the team," said Ferguson. "He has brought something different." Smith, added his manager, is the reason Rooney began on the left, though the rotation of movement between Rooney, Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs meant that was a nominal posting.

"They move you about, vertically and horizontally," said Boothroyd. "They are so fluid. That can be a weakness to exploit - but you have to get the ball first."