Manchester United cruised into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a convincing 3-0 win over Shrewsbury. Louis Van Gaal has had some of the pressure lifted until Thursday’s Europa League against Midtjylland.
United took the lead with Chris Smalling’s scuffed shot after poor defending from Shrewsbury. Juan Mata then doubled their advantage with a well worked free-kick before Jesse Lingard completed the rout with a good finish from Ander Herrera’s cross. United will now play a home tie against West Ham in the next round.
Sergio Romero was never tested and started off a brilliant counter-attacking goal for the third goal. He has performed admirably in his two appearances in goal while David De Gea has been injured.
Juan Mata and Anthony Martial were both substituted in the second half to prevent any further injuries with an important game on Thursday coming up. However United’s injury problems worsened when substitute Will Keane came off leaving the visitors to play the last 14 minutes with 10 men. Here we will rate the performances of the United players.
Sergio Romero – 7/10
The goalkeeper wasn’t often tested but his awareness started off a classic United counter attacking goal for the third goal.
Guillermo Varela 7/10
Varela had another good performance in the FA Cup. He was often tested defensively, but he had a good technical awareness and made some dangerous runs.
Chris Smalling – 8/10
The captain for the evening had a good performance and showed good leadership qualities. He scored the opening goal with a very good finish after some poor defending from Shrewsbury.
Daley Blind – 7/10
Blind gave another solid performance at centre-back and his technical ability is on point every game.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson – 7/10
The young left-back had a good 45 minutes before being substituted.
Morgan Schniederlin 7/10
Schniederlin gave a solid performance in protecting the defence and produced some great passes. He also got the assist for Smalling’s goal.
Ander Herrera – 7/10
Herrera’s performance was much improved from last Thursday’s Europa League match. He was very creative and made a great assist for Lingard’s goal.
Jesse Lingard 7/10
Lingard’s performance was also much improved. He scored the third goal with a tidy finish but missed the chance to score United’s fourth goal after he picked up a knock towards the end of the game.
Juan Mata – 9/10
A man-of-the-match performance from Mata helped secure United’s place in the next round. He was very creative and scored a brilliant free-kick just before half-time. His performance highlighted his importance to this United team.
Memphis Depay – 7/10
Memphis produced one of his best performances of the season. With United’s recent injury crisis, Memphis has been given a good run of games and his confidence is increasing each game. He had chances to score but he was creating chances, putting in crosses and making the types of runs he produced earlier in the season.
Anthony Martial – 7/10
Martial had a good performance, he missed a brilliant chance to score but the miss didn’t affect the outcome of the game. He was substituted in the second half to rest for Thursday’s important Europa League game.