FA Cup 2016/17: Manchester United 4-0 Wigan Atheltic - 5 Talking Points

Wayne Rooney was presented with a memento by Sir Bobby Charlton for his 250 goals

It was a bittersweet homecoming for Warren Joyce as his Championship side Wigan Athletic lost their fourth round FA Cup game to Manchester United. Training the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford as coach of the United reserve team, the English manager left for his new job at Wigan just two months ago.

Winning their previous three games, Wigan started with an intent to unsettle the defending champions as they pushed and prodded past Jose Mourinho’s men. With their 16-game unbeaten run over, United looked uncertain and allowed the visitors to control the game. Even though Wigan were the better side in the first half, quality prevailed over effort and Marouane Fellaini gave his team the lead just before the break.

Also read: Twitter reacts to Bastian Schweinsteiger scoring for Manchester United in a 4-0 win over Wigan

Chris Smalling, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Bastian Schweinsteiger also added to the tally ending the night with a 4-0 victory. With United through to the final 16, here are the five major talking points:

#1 Manchester United’s lineup

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JANUARY 29: Axel Tuanzebe of Manchester United is tackled by Stephen Warnock of Wigan Athletic during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth round match between Manchester United and Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford on January 29, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) — Axel Tuanzebe (left) made his first senior team appearance for Manchester United

With a gruelling schedule in the weeks to come, Mourinho quite predictably rotated his squad and made nine changes from the side that lost to Hull City in the second leg of the EFL Cup semi-final. In spite of going through on that occasion, the Special One picked an unusual yet strong side that included out-of-favour Bastian Schweinsteiger. In fact, only Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo remained from the starting XI in midweek.

Wayne Rooney made a rare start after he was awarded a memento for his 250 goals by Sir Bobby Charlton. Anthony Martial also made the cut as did Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Luke Shaw, Sergio Romero, Juan Mata and Luke Shaw.

His starting lineup wasn't the only thing surprising as he introduced academy graduate Axel Tuanzebe from the bench. The Congolese defender wasn't the only one who made his first senior team appearance as Joel Castro came on to replace the injured Romero as well.

The former Chelsea manager is famous for sticking to asmall squad and ignoring youth players but it was a different man who stood in Uniteds technical area tonight. Utilising his vast squad, the Portuguese finally seems to be resorting to new tricks.