United are through to the fifth round of the Carabao Cup after securing a dominant and professional 2-0 victory over Swansea City, thanks to two goals from Jesse Lingard.
United showed attacking intent right from the off, first Chris Smalling headed wide from a Marcus Rashford corner, before Lingard produced the first effort on target of the evening – a driven shot from outside the area, which Kristoffer Nordfeldt had to push over the bar.
Lingard then opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Ander Herrera played the ball into Rashford, who produced a neat flick putting Lingard in on goal. Left with a one-on-one, the England international curled his shot past Nordfeldt and into the bottom corner.
Scott McTominay had a good chance to open his United account just before the break, but found himself leaning back and lifting his effort over the crossbar.
A slow start to the second half was lit up when Lingard added his second with a superb header from Matteo Darmian’s excellent cross. Like McTominay in the first half, Axel Tuanzebe was left thinking what could have been when Nordfeldt parried the ball in his direction inside the six-yard-box, only for the Academy graduate to also put his effort over the bar under pressure from the keeper.
Swansea substitute Tammy Abraham nearly made an instant impact on the match, producing an effort from almost 25-yards that would have had the Swans back in the tie, if not for Romero turning it behind.
Keen for a hat-trick, Lingard drove an effort from range in the closing stages but it was right at the Nordfeldt and he saved comfortably. United had to be satisfied with the two goals and a place in the next round of the competition.
KEY MATCH STATISTICS
United dominated the game in south Wales, both in terms of possession and shots on goal. As you might expect, Jesse also had some impressive numbers...
HOW JOSE REACTED
The boss was pleased with the performance, saying: “Since the first minute, we felt we were in the game. We had a couple of corners, we were pressing high on the pitch and it was good.”
Jose also praised youngsters McTominay and Tuanzebe: “They both did well. I would say Scott probably very well because he was very comfortable and strong in midfield.“
Jose continued: "Axel started a little bit shaky but he got stability and had a good performance. Like in the match at Huddersfield, mistakes were part of a global attitude and the kids had good performances. They were also part of the consequence of a good team. We were solid, compact and in control.”
Jose Mourinho was full of praise for United's Academy graduates in his MUTV interview
LINGARD STOLE THE SHOW
After scoring twice, Jesse won the club's Man of the Match award by receiving 60 per cent of the votes cast by fans on Twitter. He spoke to MUTV afterwards and was pleased with his performance, telling us: “I feel great.
”It was a great team performance, I thought we controlled the game tactically and we had to bounce back from the weekend.“
Lingard admitted United had to bounce back from the Premier League defeat at Huddersfield
WHAT'S NEXT FOR UNITED?
It’s a return to home comforts for United on Saturday as a run of four away trips comes to an end. Tottenham Hotspur are the visitors to Old Trafford in the lunchtime kick-off (12:30 BST) and a win would see the Reds re-establish a three-point lead ahead of third-placed Spurs.
We will also learn our Carabao Cup fifth-round opponents on Thursday at 16:00 BST, with the matches to be played in the week beginning 18 December.