And although the South African, who is ranked 21 in the world, had the worst drive of the trio in the play-off, his second shot landed in the best position - Wood was more than 20 feet from the hole, while Quiros was just off the green.
Robertson turned on the edge of the penalty area as the seconds ticket out and sent in a powerful drive, but watched his shot rebound off the crossbar.
Carbone then lashed an effort wide on the left before Paul Scholes mustered United's first shot on target with a drive straight at Peter Enckelman in the Villa goal.
Those two strokes are the pull shot and the on-drive and there is no player in the world who plays these with the same consistency and timing as the Australian captain.
Deportivo took control after the half-time break when Guardado put them ahead with a brilliant left-footed drivein the 55th minute and Diego Colotto wrapped up the points when he rifled in a low shot on the edge of the box after Tenerife again failed to clear a set-piece.