Relief for van Gaal as Man Utd make light work of Derby

Sean Taylor 19:19 30/01/2016
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  • Celebrations: Juan Mata finishes the scoring.

    Louis van Gaal is able to breathe a little easier after Manchester United made light work of a potentially tricky FA Cup assignment against Derby, winning 3-1 at the iPro Stadium late on Friday night.

    The United boss arrived in the east midlands under heavy pressure and intense scrutiny after months of indifferent results, uninspiring performances and reports – denied by the Dutchman – that he offered to quit after last weekend’s home defeat by Southampton.

    His captain Wayne Rooney quickly settled the nerves with a superb opening goal after 16 minutes but George Thorne’s equaliser before half-time might have had Van Gaal worrying again as Derby threatened to add their name to the list of lower league teams, which include MK Dons, Cambridge, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United, to cause United problems in the cups under his tenure.

    However, well-worked goals from Daley Blind and Juan Mata in the second half saw United progress into the fifth round in a much more comfortable manner than was perhaps anticipated before kick-off.

    United’s dream of a first FA Cup win since 2004 remains alive and they will return to Premier League matters, at home to Stoke City on Tuesday, with confidence at least partly restored. Derby, meanwhile, must wait for their next opportunity to end a wait for an FA Cup victory over United that stretches back to 1897.

    A defensive injury glut meant that there was an unfamiliar look to the visitors’ starting XI, with Guillermo Varela and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, 18, at full-back, but the sharpness of United’s passing in the early stages belied their recent struggles.

    It took them less than three minutes to cut Derby open, the impressive Anthony Martial side-footing over from Rooney’s lay-off, and in the 16th minute a similar combination yielded the opening goal.

    On United’s left, Martial’s pass into the box was gathered by Rooney, who moved the ball inside onto his right foot and shaped a sublime shot around Scott Carson and into the top-right corner. The United captain had been marginally offside when the ball was played to him, but the goal stood, giving Rooney his sixth goal in six games as his resurgence continues.

    Derby, fifth in the Championship, had barely laid a glove on United, David de Gea comfortably fielding a 20-yard shot from right-back Cyrus Christie and a downward header by Nick Blackman, but against the run of play they equalised in the 37th minute. Chris Martin hoisted a clever pass into the box from the right and Thorne, untracked by United’s midfielders, strode through to stab a left-foot shot inside the left-hand post.

    The boisterous travelling fans fell silent and Thomas Ince threatened to add to their disquiet shortly before half-time when he cut in from the right and flashed a shot wide.

    Mocking chants of “Sacked in the morning!” echoed around the ground and there was another scare for Van Gaal early in the second half when Blackman drilled over. But United gathered their senses, and having set an attack in motion, Blind continued his run from defence and arrived with striker-like timing to turn Jesse Lingard’s low right-wing cross past Carson with a neat first-time shot from 10 yards.

    Michael Carrick made his return from a four-game lay-off as late replacement for Morgan Schneiderlin and United made the game safe 10 minutes later when Mata tucked away Martial’s cut-back.

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