It was sweet revenge for United who were beaten by Amakhosi in the

2006 Challenge final at the same venue.

The two sides met in the opening Challenge clash at Newlands in Cape

Town a week ago which ended in a pulsating 1-1 draw.

United are

unbeaten in this Challenge series. They beat Orlando Pirates 1-0 in

Durban on Tuesday night.

United left straight after the final for Nigeria where they play in

a tournament that also involves English FA Cup holders Portsmouth.

But to be fair, Chiefs' epic 2-0 win over their arch-rivals Pirates in

the playoff for the final at the ERPU Stadium in Port Elizabeth took

its toll.

Chiefs faded badly as the tired legs crept into their game in

the second half.

United were able to bring on fresh players such as Argentine striker

Carlos Tevez and Frazier Campbell to keep Amakhosi under pressure in

the second half and rest the likes of Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs,

while Chiefs ran out of gas with nothing to throw at what Chiefs

coach Muhsin Ertugral labelled as “the best club side in the world”.

But taking Bucs' scalp will be more than a consolation for Chiefs who

simply could not contain a class side like United when they started

moving up the gears after the break.

The first half rarely got out of first gear. But it was the European

and English champions who always looked as though they would have no

trouble in move up the gears.

Chiefs, to their credit, did South African soccer proud but they did

not have enough time to recover after that bruising 2-0 win over Bucs.

United's England striker Rooney chipped a clever ball over the

Chiefs crossbar in the fifth minute.

United skipper Giggs almost gave away an own goal when he mishit a

Siphiwe Tshabalala corner centimetres past his post in trying to clear

the corner in the ninth minute.

Rooney was again in the thick of the action in the 21st minute when

he tried to capitalise on a defensive mix-up but Chiefs were save by

their wide-awake goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, who stuck out his right

foot and managed to clear the danger.

Chiefs fans in the near capacity crowd thought their team had won a

penalty in the 34th minute but Madagascar referee Floriant Raolimanana

made the right call when he ruled that United keeper Tomasz Kuszczak

had played the ball and not Chiefs Siphelele Mthembu Siphelele in

fisting away a dangerous high ball.

Tshabalala was fractionally wide with a free kick from the edge of

the penalty area in the 39th minute.

But United had that extra fuel in the tank and it came as no surprise

when the magical Giggs coolly hammered home Lee Martins's inch perfect

left-wing cross giving United a 1-0 lead and Khune no chance with a

shot that bulged the net.

United came close to making it 2-0 in injury time but defender

Nemanja Vidic's header from a Giggs corner flew just over the upright.

But it did not take Rooney too long after the break to score his

first goal on South African soil when he thudded home a class strike

after he collected a through ball from Danny Simpson and showed his

class by steering the ball past a stranded Khune.

The match was over when United's new prodigy -- 18-year-old

substitute Ton Cleverley -- made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute after he

rammed home a goal from close range after Rooney set him up with a

clever header.

That goal ended any faint hope of a Chiefs revival.

They fought

bravely until the end and will take away some valuable lessons of

having twice played against United who won the English premiership and

the European Champions League trophy.

A spectacular overhead clearance by Chiefs skipper Jimmy Tau

prevented United striker Campbell making it 4-0 with seven minutes to

play.

United, sensing blood, went for the kill and Campbell who had last

season helped Hull win promotion to the English Premiership beat the

offside trap in the 86th minute and crashed home goal number four past

a helpless Khune.

Teams:

Kaizer Chiefs: 32-Khune, 2-Tau, 3-Bhasera, 13-Nahayo, 35-Quartey, 8-Nengomasha, 18-Zwane, 6-Letsholonyane, 14-Tshabalala, 11-Mthembu, 9-Torrealba.

Manchester United: 29Kuszczak, 25-Simpson, 15-Vidic, 34-Cathcart, 22-O’Shea, 35-Posseebon, 24-Fletcher, 16-Carrick, 30-Martin, 10-Rooney, 11-Giggs.

Referee: Floriant Raolimanana.

Copy: SAPA