Manchester United proved that it will take far more than even the absence of
the influential Roy Keane to come between them and the Treble as they
contemptuously swept aside Newcastle in the FA Cup final.
As Keane limped off injured after just eight minutes at Wembley, United were
left to stare into the void which they must confront in the Nou Camp next week
against Bayern Munich due to suspension - life without their captain.
But within 96 seconds of Teddy Sheringham's arrival as Keane's replacement,
the former Tottenham striker had given his side a lead which they never once
looked in danger of surrendering.
While Sheringham was simply magnificent in attack throughout, David Beckham
filled in almost seamlessly for Keane in central midfield while Ronny Johnsen
was pushed forward into the role towards the end.
Even though United will also have to cope in Barcelona without Paul Scholes,
who scored their second goal against Newcastle after 51 minutes, manager Alex
Ferguson can rest assured that he has a whole range of convincing midfield
options to choose from.
For the incredible strength of United's squad was proved not only by their
ability to cope without Keane but by their ability to leave £26million of summer
signings - Dwight Yorke, Jaap Stam and Jesper Blomqvist - on the bench at the
start.
Their night of destiny now awaits them in the Nou Camp but for the time being
they can celebrate their third Double of the 1990s.
And as a warm-up for that encounter in Barcelona, this was perfect for
Ferguson's side as they hardly had to break sweat to overcome a Newcastle side
who were outclassed for the second time at Wembley in 12 months.
Indeed the only depressing note was that this game reinforced the huge chasm
which exists between United and the rest of the Premiership bar Arsenal,
possibly Chelsea and otherwise only Leeds at their peak.
For while Newcastle have not won a major trophy since the Fairs Cup in 1969,
United's barren spell had lasted all of six days since securing the Premiership
title against Tottenham.
Newcastle's most recent victory was also against Spurs but that came all of six
weeks ago in their FA Cup semi-final.
The loss of Keane did appear to have given Newcastle an early edge as the
Irishman, who had produced two shuddering early tackles himself, fell victim to
a perfectly fair challenge by Gary Speed.
But Sheringham came on, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer moving out wide and Beckham
drafted into central midfield - and it proved to be inspired.
Within two minutes of his arrival Sheringham played a textbook one-two with
Andy Cole before guiding his shot past the stranded Steve Harper in the
Newcastle goal.
The Toon Army were depressed into silence, not only by the goal but also by
the way their side seemed stunned as if caught in the glare of the headlights of
the United juggernaut.
There was no shortage of effort but precious little movement, few attacking
ideas and almost no guile or creativity, with Alan Shearer virtually anonymous.
Nolberto Solano did strike a free-kick just over the bar but Peter Schmeichel,
on his final appearance at Wembley before leaving the club this summer, was not
even perturbed and it was still Manchester United who were more likely to
score.
Sheringham and Solskjaer just failed to meet crosses, Beckham - fiercely
competitive in his new role - drove wide and then Cole lobbed Harper only for
Nikos Dabizas to recover and hook clear off the goal-line.
The only glimmer of hope for Ruud Gullit's side came towards the end of the
first half as United took their foot off the pedal and Dietmar Hamann strode
forward to let fly with a shot that Schmeichel did superbly to push around the
post.
It was the German's final meaningful contribution of the game as he was the
surprise fall-guy at the break as Newcastle threw on Duncan Ferguson even though
the giant centre-forward is supposedly only half fit.
David May and Ronny Johnsen suddenly looked to have a battle on their hands,
or rather heads, but Newcastle's renewed hopes lasted all of eight minutes
before they committed defensive suicide.
Dabizas was the culprit when instead of finding row Z in the stands when he
was pressured by Ryan Giggs near the corner flag, he was hurried into a weak
clearance which allowed Solskjaer to intercept.
The Norwegian immediately found Sheringham, who laid the ball into the path of
Scholes and the England midfielder, who scored a hat-trick against Poland on his
last visit to Wembley, struck a firm left-footed shot into the net.
Schmeichel almost returned the favour soon afterwards as he flapped at a cross
and found himself stranded in no-man's land as he chased the ball but Ketsbaia's
shot struck the outside of the post.
That was effectively game over and the two-goal advantage allowed Ferguson to
replace Cole with Yorke, who was just unable to keep his header down when he met
a cross from Giggs shortly afterwards.
From then it turned into a master-class of attacking football as Manchester
United surged forward at every opportunity to decimate a stretched Newcastle
defence.
A sublime flowing move of first-touch passes led to Scholes having a shot
deflected just wide, while Giggs came just as close with a fiercely-struck
volley.
Newcastle were reduced to hopeful long-range efforts from Andy Griffin and
Ketsbaia which sailed harmlessly wide and their fans pleaded simply for a goal.
Sheringham almost took them at their word with an inspired chip which bounced
off the crossbar, Johnsen headed over the bar when unchallenged at a corner and
Beckham also came close from all of 30 yards out.
Substitute Silvio Maric did waste a glorious chance with seven minutes left as
he shot wide when clean through, but to be fair Manchester United had by then
settled into the comfort zone.
After all, they have a far tougher test ahead of them next week when history
awaits in the Nou Camp. Two down - one to go.
Teams
Man Utd: Schmeichel, G. Neville, Johnsen, P. Neville, May,
Beckham, Scholes (Stam 78), Keane (Sheringham 9), Giggs,
Cole (Yorke 60), Solskjaer.
Subs Not Used: Blomqvist, Van Der Gouw.
Goals: Sheringham 11, Scholes 53.
Newcastle: Harper, Griffin, Charvet, Dabizas, Domi, Lee, Hamann (Ferguson 46), Speed, Solano (Maric 68),Ketsbaia (Glass 79), Shearer.
Subs Not Used: Barton, Given.
Booked: Hamann.
Att: 79,101
Ref: P Jones (Loughborough).
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