Manchester United booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round with an impressive display at a spirited Derby County side.
United started the stronger side and could have been ahead inside three minutes through the irrepressible man of the match Anthony Martial. Great interchange between Marouane Fellaini, Wayne Rooney and Martial found the latter with a sight at goal. However, he could only curl his shot over the crossbar from inside the penalty area.
That was a warning sign that Derby didn’t heed and were made to pay for just 13 minutes later as Rooney fired the Premier League outfit ahead.
The visitors attacked patiently down their left-hand side once more through Martial who slipped the ball into the path of Rooney on the corner of the penalty area. The 30-year-old took one touch before curling a stunning strike into the far corner of Scott Carson’s goal. There was a hint of offside as Rooney collected the pass but take nothing away from the finish. That strike saw United’s No 10 take his tally to five goals in his last five away games in the FA Cup.
The travelling 5,000-plus supporters were in fine voice but towards the end of the first half they were silenced as it was the hosts’ turn to rejoice.
For all of United’s dominance in the first half they went into the break on level terms as Derby midfielder George Thorne poked the ball past David de Gea to equalise. It was the first time that the Rams had attacked in numbers and it proved dividends as Thorne burst through the United defence to finish smartly.
Paul Clement’s side started the second half in positive fashion, buoyed by the goal from Thorne. Stretching the pitch with their pace out wide they came close to taking the lead just seven minutes after the restart. A great cross from right back Cyrus Christie almost found birthday boy Tom Ince, who turned 24, but the delivery just flew inches past his outstretched foot.
With the game becoming more open both sides came close to going 2-1 ahead just before the hour mark. First Derby went on the attack with a surging run by midfielder Jacob Butterfield who was dispossessed by Daley Blind at the last second before shooting. From that Louis van Gaal’s side went on the counter-attack but Jesse Lingard’s deflected cross was headed just wide by Juan Mata.
However, it didn’t take long for United to score a second at the iPro Stadium – through the unlikeliest of scorers.
Dutch defender Blind started and finished the move which put United ahead on 65 minutes. Running with the ball out from the heart of their defence, he continued his run towards the Derby goal as United’s build-up continued. The ball eventually found its way to Lingard out on the right-hand side whose low cross was met by the onrushing Blind to steer into the bottom corner with his left foot.
The visitors brought on Jeff Hendrick and Johnny Russell to find a way back into the match, but their impact did little to effect the course of the match as the visitors added a third late on. Martial who had tormented Christie all match did so once more with a sublime stepover that left the right back trailing in his wake. United’s No 9 then cut the ball back to their No 8, Mata, who swept the ball past Carson into the far bottom corner from close range.
Martial looks a real talent for the Red Devils and that was the first time in his young Old Trafford career that he provided two assists in a single game.
It was also the first time United have won back-to-back away games in all competitions since August and a small reprieve for under-fire boss Van Gaal who was pleased with their display.
‘It was maybe better than we had trained,’ he said post-match.
‘We played at the right time against the resistance of Derby. We gave their goal away but at half-time I said that it was a good performance, keep it up and we will win. And we did.
‘Daley Blind’s goal? You have to sniff it and he sniffed it. It was a great goal. The Premier League is very important but the FA Cup is the greatest cup in England with a long and important history. We haven’t won it for a long time so we dream of it. After two wins you can’t say that we will win it.’
For Derby boss Clement, that defeat extends their winless run in the competition against United to seven matches dating back to 1897.
‘You’re always worried about those quality players, like Juan Mata and Anthony Martial, off the back of our midfield. They were clinical, their movement and finishing was the difference,’ he reflected at full-time.
‘I thought we gave them a good game, it wasn’t an easy game for them. We had some good passing spells and our goal was an excellent goal, a good finish from our holding midfielder – although I don’t know what he was doing up there!
‘I’m disappointed we didn’t keep it tighter for a bit longer so we could go into the last 15-20 minutes with a chance. For a team who is lacking confidence they played well tonight.’
The draw for the fifth round of the FA Cup takes place on Sunday evening. Van Gaal and his players will be hoping that this result can be the catalyst for the rest of their season in all competitions.
MATCH FACTS
Derby County (4-3-3): Carson; Christie, Keogh, Shackell, Warnock; Johnson (Hendrick 76); Thorne (Russell 76), Butterfield; Ince, Blackman (Camara 59), Martin.
Subs not used: Grant, Bryson, Baird, Olsson.
Booked: Warnock
Goal: Thorne 37
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson; Fellaini, Schneiderlin (Carrick 74); Mata (Herrera 84), Lingard, Martial; Rooney.
Subs not used: Romero, McNair, Januzaj, Pereira, Memphis.
Goals: Rooney 16, Blind 65, Mata 83
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By Luke Augustus