Scant reward for Moral Cup victors as Scholes makes unlikely United return....

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Manchester United went into Sunday's third round FA Cup tie with neighbours City on the back of two league defeats on the spin. It was therefore not surprising that there wasn't a great deal of shared optimism among United fans ahead of the derby. The prospect of a third defeat in the space of a week seemed like a distinct possibility. To state that the champions hadn't played well against Blackburn and Newcastle in the previous two games would be to understate just how poorly United had performed that week.

Ferguson's squad has of course been decimated by injuries this season - a situation which has led to much talk of possible new signings, but then when Sunday's team news filtered through, to the absolute amazement of many, Paul Scholes' name appeared among the United subs.

Rumours of a possible Scholes comeback had been mooted on Saturday, but it at best it seemed unlikely. What did this all mean for Manchester United and would Ferguson be bold enough to throw the veteran into the heat of a derby battle following months of no first-team action? The fact Scholes had returned to help United just added to the sense of anticipation and yes, to a degree, bewilderment, too.

As things turned out, despite being on the receiving end in the opening exchanges it was United who took the lead thanks to a quite brilliant Wayne Rooney header on 10 minutes.

From the moment Rooney opened the scoring it just got better and better from a red perspective - at least it did in that action packed first-half. The joy of taking the lead was quickly followed by another major turning point, that was the red card issued to Vincent Kompany for a two-footed lunge at Nani. United's Portuguese winger saw the challenge coming and smartly skipped out of harms way; Kompany had jumped in, won the ball and without fouling Nani. Wayne Rooney ran to referee Chris Foy and made his feelings known. The referee immediately brandished his red card. Foy's decision to send-off Kompany has subsequently been the subject of much debate.

No one really wants to see players being sent-off, especially in a local derby, because it can spoil the contest. In October United lost Jonny Evans in the Old Trafford derby just after half-time and went on to lose 6-1, but on that occasion there wasn't much argument about the decision to issue a red card, the case was more clear-cut.

In this latest incident, it appeared as though Foy sent Kompany off for what was potentially a very dangerous challenge - when you dive in with both feet off the ground you leave yourself open to the possibility that the referee might issue a card. There's no doubting Kompany's scissor challenge is one that is dangerous and several players have suffered with long-term injuries as a direct result of similar lunges.

City have announced that they are to appeal on behalf of Kompany, but it will be difficult for the FA to rule in favour of the defender because to do so will send out the wrong message, one that will by default give the green light to two footed lunges.

The incident certainly affected the game and United raced into a three-nil by half-time with goals by Danny Welbeck and one from the penalty spot converted by Rooney, albeit at the second attempt following a fine save by Pantilimon.

Danny Welbeck missed a golden opportunity to put the tie to bed just before half-time, but the young striker failed to connect with Atonio Valencia's excellent cross from the right flank.

After the break City really came out fighting and hit back early thanks to an excellent free-kick from Kolarov, following a foul on Richards by Evra - for which the United defender was booked. When Anders Lindegaard reviews a replay of that Kolarov goal, he may concede that he should have been in a more central starting position instead of being too far to the right. United could have put a man on the post - but that didn't happen either and as a result Kolarov's stunning free-kick ended up in the rigging.

The 5,000+ visiting United fans cheered on Paul Scholes who had been warming up on the touch-line, and then on 59 minutes, the red legend made his return to action when replacing Nani who'd picked up a cheap yellow card in the first-half for petulance.

Scholes looked in confident mood, he was always willing to receive the ball - always available for the pass. United were then denied what looked like a certain penalty when Kolarov brought down Valencia, but on this ocassion, Foy favoured City.

Then just six minutes into his comeback, Scholes gifted the ball back to City deep in United territory - and the ball ended up in the United net. Lindegaard initially saved Aguero's shot on the turn, but the United goalkeeper only succeeded it pushing back to the city striker and he made no mistake from close range with his second attempt.

At that point, it felt as though anything could happen. Were United really going to throw away what looked like certain victory at half-time? United had raced into a deserved three-nil lead, but it looked as though City - who were down to ten men - might claw their way back into this dramatic cup tie.

United hung on, but truth be told, City were the better side in the second-half. In his post-match interview, Roberto Mancini praised his players' for their hard work, belief and excellent organisation. Micah Richards said City had come away with a moral victory. In contrast, Ferguson was less than pleased with his team's second-half performance, but it was United who went into Sunday's draw.

In summary, United missed an opportunity to really rub City's collective noses in it following that 6-1 defeat in October. But the result and especially the first-half performance exceeded the expectations of many United fans. Sure, it wasn't by any stretch the perfect United performance and it was one that left us with many talking points.

Scholes made his comeback and Ferguson just about got away with his calculated gamble to throw him in at the deep end. Rio Ferdinand looked very uncomfortable at the back at times; his choice of pass wasn't always the right one and he was quick to wrongly blame the likes of Phil Jones when it went wrong and it did on several occasions, but again United just about got away with it.

While it is easy to focus on the negatives, there was plenty of positives too. Rooney was United's star man, he'd made a point of kissing the United badge when he opened the scoring - and following his spat with Ferguson and the headlines that followed, his joy at scoring was all too obvious.

Danny Welbeck had played well and scored a very good goal - a pity he didn't finish off the tie before the break, but it was good experience to score against City.

Smalling did ok at the back and Jones while not having a good derby will have benefited from 90 minutes football after his recent injury setbacks. Atonio Valencia looked much more at home in his natural position and provided the crosses for the goals and a carried threat whenever he received the ball.

United have been drawn against Liverpool in the next round and the tie will be played at Anfield later this month - scant reward for a hard fought Moral Cup victory.