The cup win that kick-started a golden era

The match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff - played on this day in 2006 - was straightforward enough, decided inside an hour by goals from Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Paul Jewell’s plucky Latics were unsettled just 14 minutes into the contest when goalkeeper Mike Pollitt – a former United apprentice – was forced off with a hamstring issue. But, in truth, the Reds had been rampantly peppering Pollitt’s goal from the word go.

The celebrations afterwards were modest, and largely memorable for the ‘Thank You Smudge’ t-shirts that the United players donned after full-time, in honour of their colleague Alan Smith, who had recently broken his leg during a match against…