Manchester United beat Tranmere Rovers 6-0 at Prenton Park, their first visit to the stadium. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be happy at the result which would instil some confidence in the squad who have bounced back from two back-to-back defeats. Goals from Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Anthony Martial and a penalty scored by Mason Greenwood secured United’s place in the fifth round draw.
Tranmere started well in the game and pressured United in the opening stages of the match but United soon pressured the League One club. In the tenth minute of the game, seemingly from nowhere, Harry Maguire launched a great strike towards goal, who took a slight deflection but was heading on target anyway, scoring a stunning goal, his first for the club to put United 1-0 up in this FA Cup fixture, assisted by Victor Lindelof.
It did not stop there though as Diogo Dalot scored his first goal for the club just three minutes later, assisted by Anthony Martial. Dalot wriggled into the box, got past two defenders and slammed his shot past the goalkeeper – which might have made him wonder whether this was going to be a long game for him. United seemed to skip past their opposition at a canter in the early stages of this game.
Six minutes after scoring the first goal, United were 3-0 up, this time with Jesse Lingard scoring, his first in 2020 with Maguire providing the assist. The captain burst forward, found Lingard on the edge of the space with lots of space and he curled the ball into the corner of the net. It seemed like this was so easy for United – 3-0 up in 16 minutes with two players scoring their first goals for the club. Good stuff.
United made it 4-0 four minutes before half time with Phil Jones getting his name on the scoresheet too, on this rare occasion. Maguire was brought down from the set-piece, possibly a penalty, however, Jones rose high, beating the defender and goalkeeper but they could not stop the header from hitting the back of the net. What a result so far in this game. Is there another goal on the horizon?
United scored their fifth goal of the game just before half time with Anthony Martial getting his goal. The Frenchman had room at the edge of the box, took the shot on and bent it around the defender, with a slight deflection into the corner of the goal. The last time United faced Tranmere it was a 5-0 win for United and this game looks more of the same. Both teams will look forward to the 15-minute rest at the break.
United started well in the second half with Tahith Chong, who replaced Martial winning a penalty after being fouled inside the box in the 56th minute of the match. Mason Greenwood took the penalty, scoring United’s sixth goal of the game and securing their biggest win of the season and under Solskjaer’s reign as manager of the club. It may have only been Tranmere but this will be a big confidence boost for United ahead of their Carabao Cup second leg clash with Manchester City on Wednesday.
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Goals: Harry Maguire 10′, Diogo Dalot 13′, Jesse Lingard 16′, Phil Jones 41′, Anthony Martial 45′, Mason Greenwood 56′ (pen)
Assists: Victor Lindelof 10, Anthony Martial 13′, Harry Maguire 16′, Andreas Pereira 41′, Luke Shaw 45′
Manchester United: Romero; Lindelof, Jones, Maguire (Williams 64′); Dalot, Pereira, Matic (Fred 46′), Shaw; Lingard; Greenwood, Martial (Chong 46′)
Substitutes Not Used: Grant; Bailly; Mata, James
Bookings: Scott Davies 55′; Phil Jones 4′
