United crush hapless Wigan in final

Manchester United 4-0 Wigan: Manchester United crushed Wigan 4-0 in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium today to lift the Carling Cup at the Millennium Stadium this afternoon.

Wayne Rooney netted twice with Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo also finding the net in a romp for the Old Trafford side, who could even afford to leave Ruud van Nistelrooy on the bench.

Rooney broke the deadlock after an entertaining first half-hour, but the game was still there for the taking when a burst of three goals in six minutes early in the second half ended it as a contest.

Both sides started the game looking to attack and Rooney rattled the Wigan bar with a superb header early on.

The Latics then lost goalkeeper Michael Pollitt on 14 minutes with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Paul Jewell's men weren't overawed by the occasion though but they struggled to create clear-cut chances with Wes Brown excellent at the heart of the United defence.

The opening goal came on 33 minutes, courtesy of some poor Wigan defending. Arjan de Zeeuw and Pascal Chimbonda collided as they tried to challenge Rooney when he collected a Saha flick. The England star emerged with the ball before slotting the ball calmly past John Filan from the edge of the box.

Wigan started the second half really well and Henry Camara forced Edwin van der Sar to push a stinging shot round the post. But United struck three times in six minutes to make certain they won't finish the season empty-handed.

First on 55 minutes a lovely build-up involving Mikael Silvestre, Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo ended with Gary Neville's low cross to the unmarked Saha on the six-yard line. His shot was superbly saved by Filan but the rebound struck the Frenchman and went over the line.

Just before the hour it was 3-0 when Stephane Henchoz gave the ball away to Saha 30 yards out, he found Ronaldo and the Portuguese winger drove the ball low into the corner.

It was 4-0 soon after when Wigan failed to clear a Giggs free-kick and Rio Ferdinand headed on for Rooney to hook home from close range.