Millwall given Ruud awakening

A first half header from Cristiano Ronaldo and a second half brace from Ruud van Nistelrooy, one a penalty, did the damage as The Lions never threatened to cause an upset in Cardiff as the chasm in class between The Premiership and Division One was all too obvious.

With United captain Roy Keane back to fitness, it was Phil Neville, not Darren Fletcher, who made way while Millwall player-manager Dennis Wise's midweek trip to Italy paid dividends as he figured from the start.

The First Division side did not appear to be unduly afflicted by nerves but they spent the bulk of the opening half on the back foot, once The Red Devils created their first chance after four minutes.

The returning Keane played a simple pass to Ronaldo, who delivered a fine cross for Ruud van Nistelrooy but the Dutchman's stooping header was wide of the target.

Ronaldo then displayed great artistry to dink the ball into the box but, from Ryan Giggs' flick-on, Paul Scholes completely missed his kick.

Scholes then drilled a low shot harmlessly wide while Giggs took the ball too far beyond Millwall keeper Andy Marshall after racing onto an excellent Keane pass.

The first flashpoint of the final arrived on 20 minutes when Wise put his hands into Ronaldo's face after the Portuguese winger had bamboozled a pair of opponents. Sensibly, no action was taken by referee Jeff Winter against Wise, nor against Fletcher, who needlessly embroiled himself in the argument.

Midway through the half, The Lions were indebted to a magnificent save from Marshall after the keeper pushed over Keane's volley which appeared destined for the back of the net.

Millwall sporadically raided forward and caused panic in the United area when Peter Sweeney's cross was palmed off Tim Cahill's head by Tim Howard after the midfielder evaded the offside trap.

But the majority of the action was at the opposite end as Millwall were forced into desperate defending five minutes before the interval.

Gary Neville's cross was glanced on by van Nistelrooy to Ronaldo, who controlled the ball before steadying himself for a shot. His attempt was half-saved by Marshall with Darren Ward on hand to clear the ball off the line and, from the resulting corner, Scholes whipped a shot wide.

The Lions' stubborn resistance was shattered a minute before the break as the underdogs appeared to fall asleep after surviving a penalty scare when Fletcher fell to the turf.

United worked a corner from left to right, with Keane feeding Neville. The England full back clipped a cross to the far post where Ronaldo surged towards the ball to place a header beyond Marshall.

Wise was not setting the right example for his younger colleagues as he tangled with Scholes before half time and was then booked after the recess for a high tackle on Giggs.

Immediately after the restart, Fletcher superbly wove his way through the Millwall rearguard but he could only flick his shot into the arms of Marshall.

The Millwall keeper then had to get down smartly to keep out a Scholes shot while, from the corner which followed, Ronaldo headed the set-piece over the bar.

On the hour mark, Wise did lead by example when he nodded Mikael Silvestre's header off the line just as United seemed set to extend their advantage with Wes Brown receiving a boot in the head as The Lions frantically cleared the danger.

Millwall shot themselves in the foot 20 minutes into the second half when they failed to cope with the trickery of Giggs. The Welshman skipped into the box from the right flank and his run was abruptly halted by a rash challenge from behind by David Livermore.

Van Nistelrooy, who has missed some important spot kicks this season, made no mistake on the biggest occasion as he smashed the ball into the top corner with Marshall helpless.

With ten minutes remaining, United further demonstrated the gulf in class between the two teams as van Nistelrooy helped himself to a second goal, despite appearing to be offside.

Scholes slipped a pass to Giggs down the left channel, who coasted past a Millwall defender, and his cross-cum-shot was converted by van Nistelrooy although he looked to be in an offside position.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson then rang the changes as he brought on Nicky Butt, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and goalkeeper Roy Carroll for the closing minutes of the one-sided showpiece.

The Lions did create history when substitute Curtis Weston became the youngest player to appear in an FA Cup Final but that was the only crumb of comfort they could glean from the contest.

The youthful exuberance of Ronaldo and the wise head of Keane were too much for Millwall to contend with as they never once forced Howard, or his replacement Carroll, into a testing save.