Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson felt Saturday's 4-0 FA Cup drubbing of Arsenal was the perfect response to last week's Manchester derby defeat in the Barclays Premier League.

United were three up by half-time thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney, Darren Fletcher and Nani, before Fletcher marked his first start in two minutes by rounding off the victory with his second goal after 74 minutes - after Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue had been sent off.

Ferguson said: "It was a really fantastic performance. The players looked great. They showed tenacity and the passing was terrific."

"They were so disappointed with themselves (after losing 2-1 to Manchester City) on a really important day.

"I think all the emotions of the week probably caught up with them.

"But today they've made amends for that with a marvellous performance."