The aura now is almost as effective as the player. Wayne Rooney had one of his quieter games for Manchester United, and yet it was his arrival as a half-time substitute in Tuesday night's Carling Cup that transformed their performance from disjointed edginess into ruthless fluency, writes Jonathan Wilson. Birmingham were swept aside 3-1, and United are in the last four of the League Cup for the tenth time.

United had the better of the first half, but, after Giuseppe Rossi struck the bar and Louis Saha managed to head wide from no more than three yards, there was a sense of unease about them. They may have won six of their last seven league games, but the Champions League exit has deeply hit their confidence, and the desperation Sir Alex Ferguson spoke of after the frustrating draw against Everton could be detected in a series of snatched long-range efforts.

"Bringing Wayne on helped," said Ferguson, "maybe even just with his presence." That he was even on the bench, of course, says much for how seriously failures in other competitions has forced United to take a competition they used to disdain.

Within 35 seconds of the restart, United were ahead, Cristiano Ronaldo exchanging passes with Park Ji-Sung and crossing low for Louis Saha to bundle in from close range. Four minutes later it was two, as Park, at last, got his first for the club, heading the ball on for Saha, taking the return, and, from just inside the box, driving an uncharacteristically powerful shot into the roof of the net.

Having found his range, Saha added a third just after the hour, jinking past Martin Taylor as he gathered Ronaldo's pass, and then whipped a precise finish into the top corner. Jiri Jarosik's flicked header 15 minutes from time never looked like inspiring a fightback.

"If you've got the opportunity, you must take it," said Ferguson. "If you're in the semi-final of any cup competition you have to take it seriously." After two seasons without a trophy, suddenly any silverware looks very attractive.

Two-goal Jason Roberts fired Wigan into the history books as boss Paul Jewell's unheralded side reached their first major semi-final. Roberts struck twice in the closing eight minutes of the first half of the tie with Bolton.

*Football clubs could face points deductions or expulsion from competitions under tough new rules to deal with racism, Fifa president Sepp Blatter has warned. Blatter has instructed the sport's governing body's legal department to look into ways of dealing with racist fans, players or officials, and new rules will be voted on at Fifa's congress in June. Blatter said: "We need to start to deduct points from the teams involved. It could also mean suspension. It could also mean exclusion. A financial sanction is not an adequate measure because you can always find someone with enough money to pay the fine."

Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council pledged its determination to stamp out racist abuse at Test grounds after problems during the Australia v South Africa game in Perth. South Africa complained about abuse directed towards some of their players during the third day's play. ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said such behaviour would not be tolerated, and Cricket Australia confirmed a zero tolerance policy towards those involved in racist chants.

*South Africa claimed a psychological victory over Australia after batting throughout the final day of the first Test in Perth to salvage a draw. The Proteas slumped to 138 for four before lunch but rallied to finish on 287 for five with Jacques Rudolph unbeaten on 102.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith said the result had shown his young team they had nothing to fear from the Australians. The South Africans had no alternative other than to play for a draw after Australian captain Ricky Ponting set them a near-impossible 491 to win.

Smith paid tribute to Rudolph, who was originally brought on tour as a reserve batsman but was promoted to the starting team after Jacques Kallis was ruled out with an elbow injury.

Rudolph batted more than seven hours. After reaching his century in the final few overs before the close he was so tired he could hardly raise his bat to acknowledge the applause. South Africa's other hero was Justin Kemp, who made 55 but batted more than three hours in partnership with Rudolph.

*Rooster Booster died on the gallops on Tuesday while being prepared for the Stan James Christmas Hurdle at Sandown on Boxing day. He is believed to have had a heart attack. The 11-year-old grey won the2003 Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham and was runner-up to Hardy Eustace the following year.

Philip Hobbs, his trainer, said: "At least he died enjoying what he did best." Richard Johnson, the jockey who rode the horse to seven of his 10 victories, said: "He was a horse that loved life and he was always in a rush to get from A to B. He gave great pleasure not only to myself but to the owner and to everyone connected with him."

*Keith Duckworth, who co-founded the Cosworth company that built the most successful engine in Formula One history, has died at the age of 72.

The V8 Cosworth DFV engine won on its debut on the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix with Jim Clark's Lotus and dominated the sport for 15 years with 155 race wins.