Barnsley 0 United 2

Corner kicks at the other end threatened to give Barnsley a way back into the contest. Daniel Bogdanovic came the closest to an equaliser when he beat Federico Macheda at the near post and clipped the outside of the woodwork with his header. Tykes skipper and boyhood United fan Steve Foster caused further moments of alarm for Foster and his back four when he met corners from the left and right, only to twice head the ball off target.

If Welbeck was the main instigator of United’s attacks in the first half, he started the second in the same vein, slipping a ball through to Owen who might have done better than toepoke wide had Steele not come off his line to put him under pressure.

United's first goalscorer was withdrawn only a few moments later, apparently having taken a knock. His replacement, Zoran Tosic, almost immediately picked up from where Welbeck had left off. Running across the Barnsley backline to collect the ball, the Serbian sub bent a shot just wide of the top left corner.

Owen's miss just after half-time was just the warm-up for what was to come. From a similar position, but with significantly more to do, United's number seven received a pass from Anderson with his back to goal. In the blink of an eye, Owen turned and then tricked his way through a pack of Barnsley defenders before stroking the ball beyond Steele's dive into the bottom right-hand corner.