David v Goliath
CARDIFF’S MILLENNIUM Stadium was once more the scene of the League Cup final, the season’s first opportunity to secure a piece of silverware.
For unfashionable Wigan the game represented a previously undreamt of gateway to Europe. Mighty Manchester were merely hoping to salvage something from a season badly gone wrong. Surprisingly Ruud van Nistelrooy sat on the bench, and Wigan held their own during the early exchanges. The underdogs lost their inspirational goalkeeper, Mike Politt, to injury midway through the first half, and by the interval a Wayne Rooney strike separated the two sides. After the restart six minutes were enough for Luis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rooney again to put the game out of Wigan’s reach, 4-0 to United and a cup for Sir Alex Ferguson.
