Six talking points from Wigan v United

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Manchester United progressed to the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup with a confident and commanding 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on Monday evening.

Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes made it on to the scoresheet in a match which the Reds could – and perhaps should – have won by more.

Latics keeper Sam Tickle kept out the majority of the 14 shots on target mustered by United, while Andre Onana was a virtual bystander at the other end, after a key save from Thelo Aasgaard in the game’s opening moments.

Here are some of the key talking points emanating from the last of this year’s third-round ties…

WIGAN, IT’S BEEN A WHILE

United hadn’t been to Wigan since January 2013, recording a 4-0 win five months before the Latics dropped out of the top flight and – more memorably – won the FA Cup for the first and only time in their history. The home side have experienced some tough times since and now ply their trade in League One, but the visit of Erik ten Hag’s side rekindled memories of the club’s glory years and the game was marked as a sell out with days to spare. There were familiar faces on the Wigan staff too, with Shaun Maloney, scorer of the goal that beat United in 2012, now the manager and cup final Man-of-the-Match Callum McManaman having returned to the club in the summer.

Wigan 0 United 2 ArticleThe Reds set up another FA Cup away tie, after winning at the DW Stadium in front of more than 7,500 travelling fans.

A RAUCOUS RED ARMY

Wigan is, of course, just a short journey from Manchester and – despite the late kick-off time, on a working day – United easily sold our allocation for the tie, with 7,506 Reds attending the game. They occupied the entirety of the Latics’ East Stand and were a constant vocal presence throughout, at a ground where we have fond memories, not least from May 2008, when goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs secured a 17th league title.

TICKLE KEEPS UNITED AT BAY

Dalot and Fernandes were the headline makers, courtesy of their goals, but Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford will perhaps have been annoyed not to have added to the scoreline, as each had more than one good opportunity to find the net. Highly rated young Wigan goalkeeper Tickle was often the man to blame for that as he thwarted the Reds – who had 33 shots on goal in total – on multiple occasions, but Erik ten Hag said after the game that United should have managed more than two goals, based on our overall play.

MAINOO MAINTAINS MOMENTUM

One Red who can be satisfied with his evening’s work is Kobbie Mainoo, who was named star performer following another noteworthy shift in midfield. The 18-year-old stamped his authority on proceedings, completing 61 of his 68 passes as we dominated possession from the outset. He was another player to test Tickle with a strike from a range, but probably his most impressive contribution was tracking back and tackling Martial Godo as the speedy winger threatened to break into space with the score still at 1-0. It was an FA Cup debut to remember for this Academy graduate, on another good night for the club’s youth system…

ANOTHER YOUNG DEBUTANT

Omari Forson was introduced in the closing stages and although he didn’t have time to influence proceedings, Omari said after the game it was ‘an honour’ to get his opportunity, and he follows recent debutants Dan Gore and Willy Kambwala, as well as the likes of Garnacho, Mainoo and Hannibal, in being given gametime by Ten Hag this season. Rhys Bennett and Joe Hugill, still awaiting their senior bows, plus Shola Shoretire, were also unused substitutes at the DW Stadium and, although the boss says his injury concerns will start to ease soon, you wouldn’t bank against the fourth round providing that historic moment – a 250th graduate from the club’s world-famous Academy.

A NEW OPPONENT NEXT

The draw for that fourth round was conducted moments before kick-off at the DW Stadium and either Newport County, of League Two, or non-league Eastleigh are next up for United, pending the result of their replay on Tuesday 16 January after a 1-1 draw at Newport’s Rodney Parade on Saturday. We’ve never faced either side before in a competitive fixture and haven’t gone up against a team from outside the top four divisions in the FA Cup since a fifth-round clash with Crawley Town in 2010/11. So, will it be South Wales or England’s south coast for United at the end of January?