Manchester United beat Derby County 3-0 in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup at Pride Park on Thursday evening. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side will now progress to face Norwich City at Carrow Road later this month. A goal from Luke Shaw and a brace from Odion Ighalo was enough to put United through. Not a great result for Wayne Rooney though, who was on the losing side in this match.
United started the game in fine fettle, pushing to score an early goal, which was not coming. United had more opportunities on goal than the home side with 10 attempts, three on target, one off target and six shots blocked unto and including United’s opener which was scored by Luke Shaw, although there was a bit of a deflection on Jesse Lingard, who surely would not try to claim that goal?
United scored a second goal in the first half with Odion Ighalo scoring his second goal for the club in the 41st minute of the match. Shaw was integral to the goal with him driving forward and trying to feed the ball to the Nigerian and would have had the assist if the ball did not deflect slightly off the Derby defender. At the end of the first half, United had 12 shots on goal, four being on target, one being off and seven being blocked.
United scored a third goal in the match twenty minutes from time with Ighalo scoring a second of the evening, his third goal for the club. Juan Mata could have had an assist after he squared the ball into the Nigerian but Derby tried to cut out possession but Ighalo regained control of the ball and smashed his shot into the roof of the net. United were 3-0 and heading into the quarter finals of the FA Cup, facing Norwich City.
Manchester United
22 Sergio Romero
Another clean sheet for United and Romero. The best second-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League. Derby had little to throw at him during the match. He was tested by Rooney in added time.
Diogo Dalot
The Portuguese defender did well at right-back with Wan-Bissaka out injured. He was calm and composed and tried to play the ball forward much of the time. He was not pressure much by Derby.
2 Victor Lindelof
The iceman played well although Derby did not get much involvement in attack in the game. United were pulling the strings from start to finish.
3 Eric Bailly
It was good to see Bailly back in the team. I think he should be playing alongside Maguire in the back four ahead of Lindelof at this moment in time. However, with Maguire's injury, it might not happen at the present time, but it should. He was calm and composed despite Derby having few credible shots on goal.
23 Luke Shaw
The left-back had a great match against Derby scoring the opening goal, although there was a slight deflection off Lingard and literally teeing up the second goal, which he could have had the assist for if the ball did not deflect off a Derby defender. Williams has helped him raise his game, which was much-needed.
17 Fred
The Brazilian had a quiet game at times on his 27th birthday. United had Derby in their sights from the kick off and did enough to get the better of them.
39 Scott McTominay
The midfielder had a good game and certainly seems to be the player with the fire in his belly, chasing down Sibley at times in the game. It is good to see the player back in the team after his injury layoff and he seems to have wasted no time getting back into the team and performing. One of his teammates might want to look at the way McTominay has done this.
8 Juan Mata
Magic. The Spanish midfielder reads the game superbly well and was one of United's best players in the game. He used the width he was playing in to help United create, which is something United had seen a lot of against Derby. Mata was unlucky not the get an assist for Ighalo's second goal of the game but a defender tried to intercept the ball with Ighalo getting it back before scoring.
18 Bruno Fernandes
The Portuguese midfielder was pulling the strings for United against Derby. In the first half, it looked as if he'd suffered an injury, landing awkwardly after a challenge but he was fine. Fernandes was replaced by Pereira in the 67th minute of the match.
14 Jesse Lingard
Lingard did well at times but still has a lot to do in order to become a regular starting player for the club. I was not all that impressed with his attacking ability in the game - he should be doing much better than he is. Sad signs that he could be heading into his career decline now.
25 Odion Ighalo
The Nigerian scored twice for United against Derby, taking his goal tally to three now. It was good to see him join the ranks of Quinton Fortune, who was until tonight the only African player to score for United in the FA Cup.
Substitutes
Andreas Pereira
Replaced Fernandes 67'. Helped United tick over in midfield after the main creator, recently, was given a short rest ahead of Sunday's big match. I don't think he did much on or off the ball.
9 Anthony Martial
Replaced Fred 74'. At 3-0 down, Derby would not have been happy seeing him come on. The damage was already done before he replaced Fred with 16 minutes to go.
33 Brandon Williams
Replaced Shaw 80'. Came on with ten minutes left, giving Shaw a rest after his appearance against Derby which saw him score a goal and turn provider. Williams used his class and skill to keep United ticking.
Goals: Luke Shaw 33′, Odion Ighalo 41′, 70′
Assists: N/A
Manchester United: Romero; Dalot, Lindelof, Bailly, Shaw (Williams 80′); Fred (Martial 74′), McTominay; Mata, Fernandes (Pereira 67′), Lingard; Ighalo
Substitutes Not Used: De Gea; Tuanzebe; Matic; Greenwood
Bookings: Wayne Rooney 45+2′; Luke Shaw 17′, Eric Bailly 64′, Brandon Williams 90+3′
