Derby 1-3 Manchester United : 5 Talking Points
Manchester United survived an initial scare to see off Championship side Derby County at the iPro to progress to the fifth round of this seasonâs Emirates FA Cup and ease some of the pressure on manager Louis van Gaal. Wayne Rooneyâs sublime finish after 16 minutes put the visitors ahead, before George Thorne equalised for the Rams by latching on a beautiful chip pass from Chris Martin. They nearly went ahead via. Martin at the end of the first half, only to be denied by a magnificent Chris Smalling tackle just as he was about to pull the trigger.The second half was all United though, with Anthony Martial running the show on the left wing and Jesse Lingard creating a plethora of chances on the right. Daley BlindâÃÃÃÃÃÂs side-footed finish past Scott Carson from a driven Lingard ball and a Juan Mataâs one-touch finish after some good work by Martial wrapped up the tie for the Red Devils.We look at the five talking points that shaped up an entertaining game at the iPro stadium:
#1 Wayne Rooney is a man in form
Heavily lambasted for his poor performances up front for Manchester United, Wayne Rooney seems to have re-discovered his past with the turn of the new year.
His brilliant curled strike into the far corner to open the scoring for United made it 6 goals in as many games in 2016– a run which showed that the 30-year-old still possesses the instincts of a lethal striker.
Derby County’s defenders may have been guilty of sitting off Rooney for that goal, but the quality of the finish was enough to suggest that he was back to his belligerent best. It is absolutely imperative that the skipper extends this run of goal-scoring form if he has to lead his side to a strong finish to the season.