Man United cruise into FA Cup fifth round

An impressive second-half display helped defending champions Manchester United ease past Wigan Athletic 4-0 at Old Trafford to book their fifth round place in the FA Cup.

Jose Mourinho’s side go in Monday night’s draw as the only English side left competing in four competitions, and despite Wigan providing stubborn opposition, ran out comfortable winners with a free-flowing second-half performance.

Two assist from Anthony Martial on the wing, echoed Mourinho’s sentiment that the former Monaco player should be a wide-man, despite the French International’s preferred position as a striker.

After frustrating the hosts for 44 minutes in the first half, Wigan fell behind after Marouane Fellaini - who was booed by the Old Trafford crowd a number of weeks ago - displayed great strength, before heading home at the back-post from a Timothy Fosu-Mensah cross.

Out-of-form Martial, needed a much improved showing after recent poor performances has seen the Frenchman come under scrutiny, and it was the 21-year-old’s cross that found Chris Smalling, who dispatched his headed attempt to give his side a deserved two-goal lead.

Bastian Schweinsteiger marked a rare United start with his first goal at Old Trafford in the 80^th minute, after the German managed to hook the ball past Jakob Haugaard, from an Ander Herrera knock-down.

United struggled to penetrate a sturdy Wigan defence, with the Red Devil’s first clear-cut opportunity arriving in the 24^th minute, after Juan Mata failed to direct his shot on target from just inside the area.

With chances at a premium for the hosts, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was guilty of spurring a golden opportunity six minutes later, after the 28-year-old failed to tap home from close-range after Timothy Fosu-Mensah’s pin-point cross found the Armenian at the back-post.

Wigan’s David Perkins was unlucky not to draw his side level, after his long-range effort was dealt with, be it poorly, by United second-choice goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

Manchester United now divert their attention to the Premier League, where they face Hull City at Old Trafford on the 1^st of February.

Image/GettyImages/GarethCopley

More games than ever before! eir Sport will show 23 live games from the Allianz Leagues, including five triple headers. The eir Sport pack is free to eir residential broadband customers.