Manchester United survived a spirited comeback from League Two side Newport County in order to edge through to the FA Cup fifth round with a 4-2 win on Sunday.
The Red Devils had taken a seemingly unassailable 2-0 lead in the first half before goals from Bryn Morris and Will Evans either side of half-time astonishingly drew Newport level.
Antony’s first goal of the season would allow Man Utd to retake the lead however, and Rasmus Hojlund confirmed progression with a 94th-minute finish.
Man Utd will now face either Bristol City or Nottingham Forest in the next phase of the competition.
How the game unfolded
Manchester United dominated the early exchanges and quickly hit the front via captain Bruno Fernandes. A sweeping move from back to front culminated in the out-of-form Antony cutting the ball back to the onrushing Fernandes on the edge of the box who was able to pick out the near corner of the net.
It didn’t take Man Utd too long to double their lead, with 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo sweeping home his maiden goal for the club. Once again, the strike would come courtesy of a cut-back cross from the flank, with Diogo Dalot teeing up Mainoo who side-footed into the bottom left corner from just inside the box.
The visitors came within a whisker of making it 3-0 soon after, with Alejandro Garnacho cannoning the ball off of the crossbar after being played through on goal by Fernandes.
Despite controlling the game with relative ease for the bulk of the first half, Man Utd conceded a shock goal in the 36th minute.
Newport’s Morris would score the famous goal, controlling with his chest before seeing a thumping half-volleyed effort from 25 yards deflect off Lisandro Martinez’s head and into the top corner. It was a brilliant strike that deserved the luck it got to nestle in the net.
Buoyed by that goal, Newport came out of the traps with real intent in the second half and were rewarded for their positive attitude with an equaliser in the 47th minute. It was an impressively well-worked equaliser at that.
A wonderful team move by the home side culminated in Adam Lewis curling a clever low cross into the near post area where ex-dairy farmer Will Evans was on hand to stab home.
That goal seemed to wake Man Utd up a bit, and after prodding for the best part of 15 minutes, they eventually made it 3-2 in the 68th minute.
The goal would come from the most unlikely of sources, Man Utd’s right winger Antony, who reacted quickly to tap into an empty net after Luke Shaw had curled a lovely effort off of the upright.
Man Utd finally put the game to bed in the 94th minute of proceedings through Hojlund, when the Denmark International fired home from close range after a mix-up in the Newport defence.
GK: Altay Bayindir – 5/10 – The deputy goalkeeper didn’t have much hope of keeping out either goal conceded.
RB: Diogo Dalot – 6/10 – Got himself an assist and overlapped well on the right flank throughout.
CB: Raphael Varane – 4/10 – Caught out by the run of Evans in the lead-up to the equalising goal.
CB: Lisandro Martinez – 6/10 – A busier outing than he was perhaps expecting, making seven clearances and being forced into ten defensive actions.
LB: Luke Shaw – 6/10 – Provided some quality in the final third, hitting the post to inadvertently tee up the winning strike.
DM: Casemiro – 4/10 – Surprisingly poor on the ball throughout, managing to complete less than 70% of them in the game.
DM: Kobie Mainoo – 7/10 – Scored his maiden Man Utd goal in the first half. Used the ball well in possession in the second period.
RM: Antony – 7/10 – Bagged his first two goal contributions of the season (a goal and an assist). A generally frustrating player to watch but used the ball a bit better than he has recently.
AM: Bruno Fernandes – 8/10 – Scored a nice goal early in the game, and was constantly trying to progress play for his team.
LM: Alejandro Garnacho – 5/10 – Hit the crossbar in the first half. Simply provided no service for Hojlund throughout the game though.
ST: Rasmus Hojlund – 6/10 – Starved of service but did eventually get a goal.
Substitutes
SUB: Scott McTominay (81′ for Casemiro) – 6/10
SUB: Willy Kambwala (82′ for Luke Shaw) – 6/10
SUB: Omari Forson (88′ for Antony) – N/A
SUB: Harry Maguire (88′ for Martinez) – N/A
SUB: Jonny Evans (97′ for Varane) – N/A
Manager – Erik ten Hag – 6/10 – Put out a full strength side and it almost wasn’t enough. Worrying signs.
Player of the match – Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
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