23 May 2004	Sunday	03 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

CARDIFF, May 22: Manchester United salvaged a measure of consolation from an otherwise disappointing season with a 3-0 win over first division Millwall in a lop-sided FA Cup final on Saturday.

United's 11th triumph in a tournament they did not even bother to enter four years ago will not make up for the twin frustrations of an early exit from the Champions League and the failure to mount a sustained challenge to Arsenal in the Premiership.

But it will not have been lost on the United faithful that their most impressive performers at the Millennium Stadium were 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who taunted and tormented the Millwall defence with his trickery, and 20-year-old Darren Fletcher, who pulled the strings from the centre of midfield with a maturity beyond his years.

It was Ronaldo who headed United into the lead just before half-time and a second-half double from Ruud van Nistelrooy, one from the penalty spot, allowed Sir Alex Ferguson's men to cruise to what was, after some first half huffing and puffing, an ultimately comfortable victory.

The gulf in quality between the two sides had been exposed inside the first two minutes by the way in which Robbie Ryan, bamboozled by Ronaldo, scythed through the Portuguese winger.

It was illustrated again when Fletcher's feint left David Livermore stranded in the centre circle and allowed the Scot to set up Scholes, who sent United's first chance spinning wide.

That set the pattern for a frustrating half hour for the red half of the Millennium Stadium.

When Roy Keane's pass left Ryan Giggs with only Andy Marshall to beat, the winger's attempt to round the Millwall goalkeeper ended with the ball running over the touchline.

Millwall enjoyed some escape from the pressure when Mikael Silvestre was forced into a last-ditch interception to keep Paul Ifill out and Tim Howard flapped at a John Sweeney cross.

But the respite was brief. Set up by van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo shot into the side netting and Scholes sliced another effort wide from the edge of the area.

United went closer still five minutes before the interval after van Nistelrooy flicked on Gary Neville's cross from the right.

Millwall must have hoped then that they would make it to the interval with their defensive lines unbreached.

But United's pressure finally paid off with just over a minute of the opening period left.

Preoccupied by Giggs's attempts to weave his way through their lines, the Millwall defence failed to notice that Gary Neville had advanced to the right hand edge of the box.

Keane's pass found the England full-back with plenty of time to look up and direct his chip across the six-yard line for Ronaldo, arriving at pace from the far post, to head United into the lead.

United were not to be denied however and when Giggs cut in from the right and was cut down by Livermore, referee Jeff Winter had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Van Nistelrooy slammed the penalty high to the right of Marshall to kill off Millwall's hopes of pulling off what would have been the biggest upset in the history of the tournament.

There was still more to come from United however. Nine minutes from the end, Giggs was sent free on the left by Scholes's clever pass. The winger's low cross evaded Marshall's dive and van Nistelrooy was left to pass the ball into an empty net.

Larsson'S glory

GLASGOW: Sweden striker Henrik Larsson enjoyed a glorious end to his Celtic career when he scored twice to help secure a 3-1 Scottish Cup final victory over Dunfermline Athletic to wrap up the domestic double on Saturday.

The prolific Larsson assumed centre stage to spoil spirited Dunfermline's hopes of a first cup success since 1968 after they took the lead through Andrius Skerla's 40th minute header.

The Swede raced away to coolly slot home the equaliser after 58 minutes before brilliantly turning Dunfermline's Aaron Labone to drill a 71st minute shot into the corner of the net.

Bulgarian midfielder Stilian Petrov wrapped up the win after 84 minutes when he drove the ball home as the underdogs wilted.-Reuters