Man Utd ease past Birmingham

Saturday's Premiership photos

Man Utd 3-0 Birmingham

Manchester United put their midweek Champions League defeat behind them as they went second in the Premiership by beating Birmingham at Old Trafford.

The decisive moment came after 34 minutes when Blues goalkeeper Maik Taylor was adjudged to have brought down Paul Scholes in the area and was sent off.

Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped up to score from the spot and Scholes added a brilliant second after the break.

United added just one more thanks to Ryan Giggs' calm finish near the end, but substitute keeper Ian Bennett produced a host of fine saves to keep the score respectable.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men had most of the early possession, with Birmingham happy to sit back and soak up the champions' pressure.

Steve Bruce's game plan certainly worked perfectly at the start.

With 10 men behind the ball, the Blues protected their back four and locked the door on van Nistelrooy and co.

Scholes, playing the support man to van Nistelrooy, had the first chances of the contest with 15 minutes gone.

KEY MOMENTS 34 mins: Taylor sent off for bringing down Scholes 36 mins: Van Nistelrooy smashes home penalty 57 mins: Scholes doubles Man United's advantage 82 mins: Giggs adds a third

He tested Taylor with a cross-shot and then headed straight at the keeper two minutes later before a shot on the turn brought another comfortable save.

But with Aliou Cisse - in for the injured Robbie Savage - and Stephen Clemence battling hard in midfield, there was very little penalty box action.

That's until the game burst into life after 34 minutes.

Scholes, put through by van Nistelrooy, was brought down by Taylor as he attempted to round the on-loan keeper.

Referee Mike Dean had no option but to send Taylor off after pointing to the spot.

And van Nistelrooy slotted the resulting penalty low past Bennett, who had been brought on for the sacrificed Stan Lazaridis.

Despite going down to 10 men, Birmingham looked dangerous at the start of the second half.

Jamie Clapham smashed a left-foot shot from just inside the area that Tim Howard did well to block with his legs, before Clemence forced the American to make another save.

Defeated, but not disgraced - we were doing well until the sending off From Philly Have your say on 606

The tempo of the game increased, with van Nistelrooy shooting straight at Bennett before Scholes finally got on the scoresheet just before the hour mark.

It was a spectacular strike from the 28-year-old Englishman, who flicked the ball up before smashing it into the net from 25 yards.

United dominated from then on and it was a question of how many they could go on to score as Birmingham tired.

Van Nistelrooy should have increased their advantage but, after beating the offside trap to latch onto Roy Keane's pass, he was denied by a brilliant save from Bennett.

With just eight minutes left, Giggs wrapped up the points when he neatly slotted past the over-worked Blues keeper to make it 3-0.

---

Man Utd: Howard, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Fortune, Fletcher, Phil Neville (Butt 71), Keane (Forlan 66), Giggs, Scholes, van Nistelrooy.
Subs Not Used: Ronaldo, Carroll, O'Shea.

Birmingham: Taylor, Johnson, Upson, Cunningham, Clapham, Dunn, Cisse, Clemence (Tebily 79), Lazaridis (Bennett 35), Dugarry (Carter 66), Forssell.
Subs Not Used: John, Morrison.

Sent Off: Taylor (34).

Booked: Cisse.

Attendance: 67,633

Referee: M Dean (Wirral).