With a 2-0 victory against League One Wigan on Monday, Manchester United made sure there was no FA Cup third round upset, which relieved some of the strain on manager Erik ten Hag.
United’s first away victory since November was achieved thanks to goals from Diogo Dalot in the first half and a contentious penalty from Bruno Fernandes.
In Monday’s draw, the Red Devils were also given a favorable fourth round matchup against either League Two’s Newport County or non-league Eastleigh.
With United underperforming in the Premier League and already eliminated from Europe, this tournament may be Ten Hag’s only chance at winning a trophy this season.
“Winning is everything in the FA Cup; it’s a knockout competition. Ten Hag said, “You want to finish the job.” “That is what I said in the dressing room: ‘job done’.”
With the exception of an early attempt from Thelo Aasgaard that put Andre Onana to the test, the visitors were hardly disturbed at the DW Stadium. Onana had remained around for two more United games before leaving for Cameroon’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
As United began to gain momentum, Scott McTominay poked inches wide and Sam Tickle made a spectacular stop to deny Marcus Rashford.
In the last few weeks, Rashford has showed signs of returning to form, and on minute 22, Dalot curled into the far corner after receiving a feed from the England international.
Rasmus Hojlund thundered a header over the crossbar, and Alejandro Garnacho’s speculative shot also bounced off the woodwork, meaning that United should have been up 1-0 at the interval.
“We probably created five or six really good opportunities in the first half. Ten Hag continued, “I thought the football was excellent.
“We should have taken more, but if you don’t score you have to stay focused and I think we did that tonight.”
Wigan were upset when Fernandes eventually scored the second goal 16 minutes from time, taking advantage of very little touch from Liam Shaw.
With a clinical finish on the penalty that followed, Fernandes salted the wounds of the home team and dashed any hopes of a massive slaughter.
Next up United will seek to carry some good momentum into their two-week Premier League Christmas break when Tottenham visit Old Trafford on Sunday.
Ten Hag’s men sorely need to win to reduce a nine-point deficit on the top four if they are to preserve dreams of returning to the Champions League next season.
And the Dutch coach feels there is a new air of hope surrounding the club after British businessman Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25 percent share in the team.
“It is an inspiration. Everyone has optimism. There’s a ton of work to be done,” Ten Hag said.
“It is a journey, it is a project and now we have had to deal with some setbacks but we will keep alive, survive it and strike back.”