Emirates FA Cup
Derby County vs. Manchester United
Venue: iPro Stadium
Date: Friday, 29 January 2016
Kick-off: 19:55 GMT
Manchester United booked their place into the next round of the FA Cup, winning 3-1 against Derby County on Friday night.
Captain Wayne Rooney opened the scoring early on, only for George Thorne to equalise before half-time.
Second half strikes by Daley Blind and Juan Mata saw the visitors through, as the away side bounced back from last weekend’s league defeat against Southampton.
It was a bright start from United, with Marouane Fellaini’s ball into Rooney allowing the latter to set the chance up for Anthony Martial, whose shot fell over the bar.
Right-back Cyrus Christie saw a shot held after collecting the loose ball once Tom Ince’s air shot came to nothing, before United took the lead five minutes later.
Goalscorer Rooney played the ball to Martial, who returned the favour despite Rooney being in an offside position, but the England striker set himself for a curling effort from the corner of the penalty area, and it flew past Scott Carson to give United the lead.
Derby’s attempt to hit back saw Nick Blackman’s header held from Christie’s cross before they were back on level terms.
A fantastic pass from Chris Martin found the onrushing Thorne, whose touch and finish, both with his left boot, sent the iPro Stadium wild.
Captain Stephen Warnock turned Martial’s low cross behind for a corner, before Blackman cut inside at the other end, seeing his left-footed strike fall just wide of David De Gea’s left-hand post, as half-time arrived with the game level.
Buoyed by their equaliser, Derby pressed on early in the second half, with Christie’s cross evading Ince, with Blackman picking up the loose ends but curling a shot over.
Warnock was booked for a foul on Guillermo Varela as Mata somehow headed wide from Jesse Lingard’s deflected cross.
Carson was left with an easy catch from a Fellaini header via Blind’s corner before the latter restored the lead moments later.
Venturing forward from the back, the Dutchman found Mata who spread the play out to Lingard on the right, and his low cross was superbly finished by Blind’s first time finish into the bottom corner.
A quiet spell then presided in the East Midlands, but the tie was put to bed with around eight minutes remaining.
Substitute Michael Carrick’s intelligent forward pass found Martial lurking on the left-hand side, and he beat Christie with ease before pulling the ball back to Mata, who tucked his shot away into the same corner as Blind did earlier on.
Both sides sensed the game was all but over, and it was at the end of three added minutes.
Three excellent goals from United, as was Derby’s, with Louis van Gaal’s side booking their place in Sunday’s fifth round draw with a decent performance to match.
Up next for United is a home game against Stoke City in the league, with an 8pm kick-off time this Tuesday at Old Trafford.
Line-ups:
Manchester United: De Gea; Varela, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson; Schneiderlin (Carrick 74), Fellaini; Lingard, Mata (Herrera 84), Martial; Rooney.
Subs: Romero, McNair, Carrick, Herrera, Januzaj, Pereira, Memphis.
Manager: Louis van Gaal
Derby: Carson; Christie, Keogh, Shackell, Warnock; Thorne (Russell 76); Ince, Butterfield, Johnson (Hendrick 76), Blackman (Camara 59); Martin.
Subs: Grant, Bryson, Hendrick, Russell, Baird, Camara, Olsson.
Manager: Paul Clement