by Neil Weld at Old Trafford
There was to be no shock result at Old Trafford as Pompey fell to their heaviest defeat of the season.
They actually managed to hold the champions at bay for 40 minutes and had chances to take the lead.
But Wayne Rooney’s opener started a landslide with goals soon arriving at regular intervals.
Pompey helped their hosts with own goals from Anthony Vanden Borre and Marc Wilson adding to strikes from Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov.
Avram Grant made five changes from the side that lost at Fulham on Wednesday night.
Ricardo Rocha made his debut at left-back, while there were also starts for Vanden Borre, Hayden Mullins, Richard Hughes and former United forward Danny Webber.
Steve Finnan, Angelos Basinas, Hassan Yebda, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Aruna Dindane were the players to make way, all dropping to the bench.
Sir Alex Ferguson paid Pompey the ultimate respect by fielding a strong side that included the likes of Rooney, Carrick and Antonio Valencia.
Before kick-off there was a minute’s silence in memory of the 23 people who died in the Munich air disaster on February 6 1958. Both sets of players wore black armbands.
The hosts applied plenty of early pressure but David James did not have too much to deal with in the opening stages.
Pompey’s keeper was relieved to watch the ball float inches wide of the post on 13 minutes though, after Jonny Evans had met Gary Neville’s cross.
The Blues then broke quickly upfield had two chances in quick succession with Edwin van der Sar denying both Vanden Borre and Nadir Belhadj.
And Manchester United’s Dutch keeper had to come tearing out of his box on 18 minutes to stop Frederic Piquionne from latching onto Vanden Borre’s pass.
James had still not being properly tested 30 minutes into the match, a comfortable catch from Patrice Evra’s shot his only exertion.
It was Pompey who came close to breaking the deadlock on 34 minutes after some fine build-up play from Vanden Borre and Jamie O’Hara.
The latter played a neat pass to Belhadj, whose low shot beat van der Sar but was cleared from danger by the back-tracking Evans.
United should have been ahead just a minute later, however. Gary Neville sent a low cross into the centre towards Berbatov, but the Bulgaria striker scooped the ball wide from just a couple of yards out.
But the hosts finally broke the Blues’ resistance on 40 minutes when Rooney leapt highest in the box to convert Darren Fletcher’s pin-point cross.
And their lead was doubled just before the break when Vanden Borre inadvertently turned Nani’s cross into his own net.
Half Time: Manchester United 2 Pompey 0
The hosts went close to increasing their advantage early in the second half when Berbatov’s exquisite chip allowed Valencia a sight of goal, but the winger was denied by a superb save from James.
But it was only a brief respite for the Blues. Carrick grabbed United’s third with a shot from the edge of the area that took a deflection off Hughes as it crashed off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.
And the situation soon got worse for Pompey. Berbatov was allowed too much time to work himself into space, before turning and arrowing a low shot into the bottom corner.
Piquionne tried to pull one back on 65 minutes but the Frenchman could only find the side netting with a scuffed shot.
Ferguson took the opportunity to rest three of his key stars midway through the second half with Michael Owen, Mame Biram Diouf and Darron Gibson replacing Berbatov, Rooney and Fletcher.
Grant made a change of his own on 67 minutes as Quincy Owusu-Abeyie came on for Piquionne.
United’s substitutions failed to dampen their attacking verve and they had their fifth on 69 minutes when Wilson put the ball into his own net.
It was a finish that a striker would be proud of as the Irish defender met Evra’s cross on the volley to leave James helpless.
And only a decent clearance from Ben Haim stopped Owen from connecting with Diouf’s cross and adding a sixth soon after.
James then had to dive low to his left to prevent Carrick’s fierce shot from distance creeping into the net.
Diouf should have added his name to the scoresheet on 85 minutes when he found himself one-on-one with James, but the substitute lifted the ball over the bar.
Things got worse for Pompey when – having already made all of their substitutions – Boateng limped off down the tunnel.
Pompey: James (c); Vanden Borre (Boateng 61), Ben Haim, Wilson, Rocha; Webber, Mullins, Hughes, O’Hara (Yebda 74), Belhadj; Piquionne (Owusu-Abeyie 67)
Booked: Webber, O’Hara, Ben Haim, Boateng
Subs not used: Ashdown, Finnan, Basinas, Dindane
Man Utd: van der Sar; Neville (c), Brown, Evans, Evra; Valencia, Fletcher (Gibson 66), Carrick, Nani; Berbatov (Owen 66), Rooney (Diouf 66)
Goals: Rooney 40, Vanden Borre (og) 45, Carrick 59, Berbatov 61, Wilson (og) 69
Booked: Diouf
Subs not used: Kuszczak, da Silva, De Laet, Park
Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: 74,684