Southampton 0 Manchester Utd 3 Jan Poortvliet, the Southampton head coach, was upset by referee Mike Riley�s decisions...

Southampton 0 Manchester Utd 3

Jan Poortvliet, the Southampton head coach, was upset by referee Mike Riley's decisions after his side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United here yesterday.

Goals from Danny Welbeck, Nani and substitute Darron Gibson earned the Barclays Premier League champions a simple passage into the next round. However, Sir Alex Ferguson's side were more than aided by the benevolence of Riley, who sent off Southampton's Matt Paterson for violent conduct in the first half, then harshly awarded United a second-half penalty.

Welbeck opened the scoring in 19 minutes when Nani's corner was headed against the crossbar by John O'Shea, and Welbeck had the simple task of nodding home the rebound from point-blank range. "It was offside," said Poortvliet having watched a replay in the tunnel. "The referee's assistant should see it because he is on the same line as the player."

The Southampton coach was also upset with Riley's decision to red card Paterson eight minutes before half-time - claiming it ruined the game.

The youngster lunged at Nemanja Vidic and Riley showed him a straight red. "I know the boy very well, it was a normal tackle," Poortvliet said. "I was disappointed in the game by the decisions. The boy made a tackle on the ball with one foot. He hit the ball but he sent him off, and that was wrong."

Poortvliet was also unhappy about the penalty decision just after half-time when Nani sent a free-kick straight against the arm of David McGoldrick. "The penalty was cheap," added the coach.

"The ball hit his arm but it is normal when you are in the wall. Even with 11 players it is difficult to play against Manchester United. With 10 it is more difficult but the boys worked hard and tried to do their best. They tried to get a good result.

"However, it was not the case. United are a big team and they showed how to play football and what they can do with the ball. I only feel sorry that after the red card it was not a real game any more. It was a pity for the people and for my players because I think they deserved more. United deserved to win and I am not hiding behind the referee. It was just more of a game when it was 11 against 11."

On the sending off, Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, said: "It's certainly rash and maybe it's easy for the referee to send him off.

"I think maybe if the referee had booked him in the first minutes then maybe it would have calmed him down a bit, because it was exuberance more than anything."