Manchester United beat Watford 1-0 in the Third round tie of 2020-21 FA Cup at Old Trafford and advances to Fourth-round.
Scott McTominay’s fifth minute headed goal is the difference maker on a bitterly cold night at Old Trafford and The Scottish international midfielder was captain for the first 45 minutes of the game.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made nine changes from the XI he fielded against Manchester City in last Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final loss.
The goal might not have come quite as rapidly as the midfielder’s double against Leeds United in the Premier League last month, but he proved again he’s no slouch from the opening whistle by powering a header downwards from an Alex Telles corner that took an enormous bounce to loop beyond Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.
It didn’t dampen the Championship side’s spirit and the Reds needed Axel Tuanzebe to hack the ball away from just off the goalline following Adam Masina’s shot.
The Telles corner route to goal almost paid off again in the 19th minute when his delivery was met by Eric Bailly, who stole space for himself in the box, but his header was glanced wide.
The half ended on a worrying note for Ole and Reds, when center back Bailly was clattered by United’s Dean Henderson, as keeper came out to punch a ball clear and inadvertently caught the Ivorian in the head with his knee.
The groggy defender was carefully escorted to the touchline by United’s medical staff before being taken down the tunnel and replaced by Harry Maguire.
After the game, Bailly took twitter to confirm he is feeling good after the knock. “Good job by the team to advance in the #FACup. I am OK, it was just a knock.”
United were below par in the second half, In a bid to inject some new life into his side, Solskjaer brought on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to replace James and Greenwood after 68 minutes.
However, it was Watford’s sub Ken Sema who almost made the most telling impact of the new faces, with a free kick after 72 minutes that floated just over at the far post. It was a bit too close for comfort, though Henderson did watch it all the way to safety
Post-Match Reaction:
