THE prospect of the two giants of English football clashing in the FA Cup Final on May 11th left even seasoned campaigners drooling after yesterday's semi finals resulted in wins, by vastly different means, for Manchester United and Liverpool over Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who has now engineered four FA Cup Final excursions to north London in the past six years, and Liverpool boss Roy Evans, whose team's 3-0 success scuppered Villa's dream of the cup double, chose the occasion of their semi final wins to pay homage to two of the game's more volatile stars.

Roy Keane, sent off in Ireland's "friendly" defeat to Russia last week, was again involved in another incident (which passed with just a warning from referee Steve Lodge), this time with Chelsea's Dennis Wise. The pair figured in a shoving match during the second half after the Chelsea captain was also involved in an altercation with Nicky Butt.

Keane, due to serve a one match suspension next Monday night against Coventry after picking up six yellow cards in the Premiership, was again booked yesterday for a foul on Michael Duberry in the 2-1 win.

But Ferguson came to Keane's defence and claimed: "Roy is unfortunate. He was booked for his first foul, while Sparky (Mark Hughes) committed his usual 20."

The United manager made light of the incident and claimed the tie was "the fairest and best FA Cup semi final in my time at the club. If there wasn't a bit of passion in it, then there would be something wrong."

Meanwhile, Evans oozed praise for striker Fowler, whose brace of goals brought his season's total to 33: "Sometimes Robbie can be frustrating with the things he does wrong, but the goals he scores are fantastic."

Evans, who must now prepare his side to face Premiership title rivals Newcastle United on Wednesday night, said: "Playing Manchester United at Wembley will be fantastic and a great day out. But we must put the final on hold for now and concentrate on playing Newcastle.

"It would be criminal to put all our eggs in one basket and rely on the FA Cup for a place in Europe next season. We must pick up as many, Premiership points as possible to guarantee it.

Villa - with their trio of Irish stars Andy Townsend Paul McGrath and Steve Staunton seeking to book return trips to Wembley after their League Cup success over Leeds United - fell to their bogey side Liverpool, who had already beaten them twice in the league this season.

"All through the game, Villa kept us on our toes and we only won it late on," said Fowler. "At 1-0, you are not guaranteed a place in the final, but once we got the second goal there was only going to be one winner."

Jason McAteer, who scored Liverpool's third goal in injury time to put the icing on the cake, said: "Things just seem to be getting better and better for me. I've got to pinch myself to make sure it's real; it's unbelievable".

"They tell you there is nothing like playing in an FA Cup semi final - and now I can understand why," said McAteer.

But Chelsea's Craig Burley - whose suicidal back pass was responsible for the David Beckham goal which booked Manchester United's passage into the final - experienced utterly contrasting emotions to McAteer's and had to be consoled by his manager, Glenn Hoddle.

"He is distraught. Lots of players hit blind back passes. I have done it myself but Craig has been punished," explained Hoddle. "He didn't let anyone down though. He performed really well in midfield. Craig and Dennis Wise battled really well with Nick Butt and Roy Keane.

"It is just one of those terrible things that happen to players. But Craig has got a lot of characters and I am sure he will learn from the experience. It is just a bitter pill to swallow," said Hoddle.

And Hoddle hit out at television pundit Alan Hansen after the former Liverpool star questioned his tactics regarding the injury to Irish international Terry Phelan. Phelan soldiered on for 20 minutes after sustaining an injury, during which time Andy Cole and Beckham scored twice for United.

Hansen insisted the Chelsea managed should have taken Phelan off immediately, even though the Londoners had already lost their other full back, Steve Clarke, through injury and Dan Petrescu was suspended.

But Hoddle said: "That's Alan's point of view, but until he sits in a dug out and finds out about it himself, he is entitled to his point of view."

"Terry felt he could play on, that it was just a slights thing," continued Hoddle. "If a player thinks he can continue, then you listen especially if you have lost one full back and don't really want to reshape both flanks so early in the game. If I'd had a left back on the bench, I would have made the decision a lot quicker."

United's goal hero Beckham - who made the most of his late call up to the side after Steve Bruce failed a late fitness test on his thigh injury doesn't expect to start the final against Liverpool, a match which bookmakers William Hill are already deeming too close to call and quoting both teams as 6-5.

"It is a dream come true for me to score the winner in the semifinal, but I don't think I will play in the final. There are too many players ahead of me in the pecking order, like Steve Bruce, Dennis Irwin and Gary Pallister, to come back after injuries. So I am taking nothing for granted."