Manchester United 3 Everton 1
Manchester United have progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup following a 3-1 win over Everton this evening.
Erik ten Hag’s men were off to a flying start inside five minutes when Antony opened the scoring following great link-up play between Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford.
The away side pulled things level through Conor Coady just ten minutes later after sustained pressure from the Toffees.
Another quick start from the Reds after half-time saw us restore our lead. Rashford, who showed great footwork down the left, drilled the ball into the Everton box and it was turned into their own net by Coady.
Rashford, man-of-the-hour, sealed the win from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time.
Despite a scrappy affair, a 3-1 win means our name is in the hat for the next round.
In true FA Cup fashion, both teams were welcomed onto the pitch with an absolutely electric atmosphere inside Old Trafford.
And it didn’t take United long to hit the ground running, scoring inside the opening five minutes. Anthony Martial took control in the middle of the park before setting Marcus Rashford on his way. Our no.10 drove into the box and played the ball across goal to find Antony sliding in to get the final touch and tap home.
Martial came close to doubling our lead minutes later, but the Frenchman’s effort flew just wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal.
At 1-1, there was a frantic feel to the game with tackles flying in all over the pitch as both teams tried to carve out the next goal.
Ten Hag’s men came the closest to netting again moments after conceding, as Martial saw his attempt to restore our lead saved well by Pickford after Rashford drove us forward on the break. A handful of long-range efforts from Rashford and Christian Eriksen came agonisingly close to putting us ahead again, but we went into the break all-square.
After picking up the ball out wide, he drove into the box and showed lovely footwork to beat his defender before his drilled cross was turned into the Everton net by Toffees defender Coady.
After reinstating our one-goal lead, the Reds began to establish some dominance but second-half substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin had other ideas. Demarai Gray’s quality ball into the box was converted by Everton’s no.9 to make it 2-2, but the intervention from VAR chalked their equaliser off due to Gray being offside in the build-up.
Rashford came close to putting daylight between us and our opponents with a late free-kick, but Pickford helped it over the bar to deny his England team-mate. The two locked horns once more as our no.10 stepped up to take a penalty deep into stoppage time - won by Alejandro Garnacho - but this time it was Rashford who came out on top to put the game to bed from United's perspective.
United: De Gea; Dalot, Varane, Shaw, Malacia (Martinez, 76); Casemiro (Fred, 71), Eriksen (Maguire, 83); Antony (McTominay, 83), Fernandes (c), Rashford; Martial (Garnacho, 71).
Unused substitutes: Heaton (GK), Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Elanga.
Goals: Antony 4; Coady own goal 52; Rashford 90.
Booked: Fernandes 28.
Everton: Pickford; Coleman (Gordon, 81), Godfrey, Coady, Tarkowski, Mykolenko (McNeil, 81); Onana, Gana, Iwobi (Doucoure, 51); Gray, Maupay (Calvert-Lewin, 69).
Unused substitutes: Begovic (GK), Helogate, Mina, Davies, Simms.
Goals: Coady 14.
Booked: Godfrey 61; Doucoure 67; Onana 88.
⚽️🙎🏾♂️👈🏾 pic.twitter.com/TcfqKd0jQt
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 6, 2023
Continuing in a good way. The right way to start our FA Cup run 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/tURHisOdIs
— Bruno Fernandes (@B_Fernandes8) January 6, 2023
Old Trafford tonight 😍😍 Next round !! pic.twitter.com/Ugktmhtzxo
— Raphaël Varane (@raphaelvarane) January 6, 2023
Match highlights will be published on ManUtd.com and the United App at 12:00 GMT (midday) on Saturday.