Soccer: Two-goal Scholes is a ‘genius’, says Ferguson

Aston Villa 1 Manchester United 2

Scholes levelled Gareth Barry's first-half opener midway through the second period when he tapped home Ryan Giggs' cross and then won the tie four minutes later when he arrived in the box at the right time to rasp a half-volley past Thomas Sorensen.

Ferguson admitted the introduction of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Roy Keane was one of the major factors behind United's win but without Scholes it would not have been possible.

"Paul Scholes is a genius," gushed Ferguson.

"He just ghosts into those positions and is so difficult to pick up. The second goal was a tremendous finish. The first was a great ball through from Nicky Butt to Ryan, and he kept his composure and rolled it on to give Paul a tap-in."

It was the second time in three seasons United had come from behind to turf Villa out at the first stage of the competition.

Then it was Van Nistelrooy who was the destroyer with two late strikes; yesterday the Dutchman was left on the bench alongside Keane for 55 minutes in readiness for what Ferguson believes will be a tough derby with Bolton on Wednesday.

"Bolton left a lot of players out of their team yesterday, so it was never my intention to start with Roy or Ruud. Roy is never going to play all the games, and we have to be careful with Ruud and make sure he is available for the major ones," he said.

Apart from a place in today' fourth-round draw, Ferguson was also able to welcome the return of Wes Brown as a major highlight of the afternoon.

Rio Ferdinand was ruled out with a bad dose of flu which could also see him miss Wednesday's visit to the Reebok Stadium and Brown was handed his first start since his second cruciate knee ligament operation in the summer.

Ferdinand has yet to decide whether to appeal against his eight-month ban for a missed drugs test. But it seems certain United will be without their record signing for some period of time, and Brown's fitness will determine whether his manager needs to buy a defensive replacement.

"Wes Brown had a fantastic 90 minutes," he said.

"That was the plus point. We had to see how he was coping in the second-half before I made the substitutions, but I was happy that he was going to be okay."

Ferguson confirmed Phil Neville, who missed yesterday's game with an ankle injury, should be fit to face Bolton while John O'Shea will be monitored after taking a bang on the head in the first-half.

Meanwhile, Villa manager David O'Leary insisted striker Juan Pablo Angel is staying with the club following reports he wants to join Arsenal.

Angel has been linked with a move to the Gunners after scoring 13 goals during the first half of the campaign. The Colombian international has 18 months left of his current deal and O'Leary is keen to extend his stay at Villa Park.

The Villa boss said: "If Juan is linked to a club like Arsenal, it is a big compliment to him because they are one of the biggest clubs.

"Is he staying here? Without doubt and he wants to stay here. That is what he has indicated to me when we have talked," said O'Leary.

ASTON VILLA: Sorensen, De la Cruz, Mellberg, Johnsen, Samuel, Hendrie (Hitzlsperger 45), McCann, Whittingham, Barry, Vassell (Moore 74), Angel.

MAN UTD: Howard, Gary Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O'Shea (Keane 55), Kleberson (Fletcher 84), Butt, Scholes, Fortune, Giggs, Forlan (van Nistelrooy 55).

Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).