Sir Alex Ferguson is on course for his second treble as manager of Manchester United. His side secured a place in the FA Cup final when they beat Watford 4-1 at Villa Park.

United continued from where they left off in their mid week thrashing of Roma. It took Wayne Rooney just seven minutes to open the scoring, emphatically finishing the first chance of the game. Rooney found himself in the clear after Michael Carrick’s through ball was allowed to split a confused Watford defence thanks to movement from Giggs and Smith. Watford reacted and drew level twenty minutes later through an acrobatic effort from Hameur Bouazza.

Watford were not level for long, Cristiano Ronaldo needed just two minutes after the restart to put United back in the lead. An apt wat to celebrate signing a new £30 million deal during the week.

After the interval it seemed that the Watford defence did not come out for the second half, they gifted United a goal when they allowed Smith to stroll through the box and pick out Rooney who scored his second from inside six yards.

Ronaldo was replaced by Richardson who was the scorer of the final United goal. Alan Smith was the provider again, and Richardson lifted the ball over the stranded Watford keeper securing a place in the first cup final at the new Wembley.