Manchester United 7 Barnsley 0

Match report: United 7 Barnsley 0

Tuesday 17 September 2024 22:09

Manchester United advanced to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a resounding 7-0 victory over Barnsley at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

The Reds were in complete control at the break in M16 against the visitors from League One after first-half goals from Marcus Rashford, Antony from the penalty spot and Alejandro Garnacho.

Garnacho, Rashford and Christian Eriksen's double added to the tally in the second period as Erik ten Hag enjoyed his biggest win as United boss to date and the Reds continued in comfort on the path to Wembley. 

FIRST HALF - THREE GOALS PUT REDS IN CONTROL

Ahead of our first cup game of the campaign, Ten Hag made it clear he would be taking the tie seriously and that he viewed the Carabao Cup - the first trophy he won as United manager in 2022/23 - as an important competition.

The boss reflected this with a strong selection despite showing eight changes from Saturday’s 3-0 win at Southampton, with Diogo Dalot, Eriksen and Rashford retaining their places in an XI which included a home debut for Manuel Ugarte and a first competitive start for Toby Collyer. The 20-year-old operated at left-back, with Ugarte’s first United start in tandem with the returning Casemiro adding some South American bite in midfield.

Understandably, it took some time for our much-changed side to find their feet and, in the 10th minute, our no.10 struck the first shot, as Rashford’s deflected effort cannoned behind off Marc Roberts. From the resulting Eriksen corner, Rashford saw two quickfire shots blocked by the Tykes’ defence.

He was not to be denied in the 16th minute, however, as our Academy graduate opened the scoring on his 200th home appearance for the Reds. Collecting Garnacho’s delightful cross-field pass, Rashford manoeuvred away from two Barnsley defenders before rifling a composed finish past Gabriel Slonina to net for the second successive match.

United continued to threaten with little reward, until being awarded a penalty when Antony, latching on to Rashford’s angled pass, was sent sprawling by onrushing Tykes keeper Slonina, who was booked by referee Gavin Ward. Our no.21 stepped up and confidently converted to add to our advantage in the 35th minute.

The Reds began to dominate as Casemiro warmed the gloves of Slonina with a deflected shot. His midfield partner Ugarte provided a brief scare when requiring treatment after blood poured from his leg following a rugged challenge by Barnsley captain Luca Connell.

But United headed into the interval with a firm grip on proceedings as Garnacho - just as he did at St Mary’s Stadium at the weekend - notched our third goal. Picking up a fortunate ricochet after Rashford’s mazy run was initially halted by the Tykes’ backline, our no.17 poked the loose ball into the bottom corner.

SECOND HALF - REDS RUN RIOT TO PROGRESS

It took just four minutes after the restart for goal number four to arrive as Garnacho, released by a lofted pass by Eriksen following a lovely one-touch sequence, ran the entire length of the Barnsley half unchallenged before calmly stroking home.

A lively Rashford brought a save low down from Slonina with a powerful low free-kick from 22 yards. However, the forward did not have to wait long to see his name on the scoreboard at the Theatre of Dreams again as he raced on to Garnacho’s pass - after Barnsley surrendered possession in a dangerous area - and slotted in United’s fifth.

Keen to make full use of his squad, the boss gave run-outs to captain Bruno Fernandes, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee from the bench just after the hour mark as Ugarte, Rashford and Dalot departed the action.

With the traffic heading only in one direction, a rampant United sought to add to our tally. Antony saw a curling effort from just outside the box tipped over by Slonina and Garnacho somehow failed to take a hat-trick chance when firing over from 10 yards from Fernandes’s deflected cross.

United were denied a second penalty when Casemiro went down in the box under the challenge of Josh Earl before, at the other end, Barnsley sub Stephen Humphrys was booked for simulation after falling on the edge of the box with Collyer in close proximity.

Matthjis De Ligt received his first taste of domestic cup action in England as the Dutchman replaced Jonny Evans - who also played the last time United faced Barnsley, in a 2-0 victory at Oakwell in the League Cup fourth round in 2009.

It got better for the Reds when Eriksen got in on the act with his fourth and fifth goals for the club, both set up by Fernandes in the space of four minutes. The Denmark midfielder first converted a pull-back from close range before stroking a delightful finish into the corner from the edge of the box, to round off an impressive evening for Ten Hag’s troops.

It proved to be a quiet night for Altay Bayindir, making his home debut for United and only his second appearance for the club, but the Turkish keeper will be pleased to keep his first shutout for the Reds, who eased into the next round and can now turn attention to Saturday’s Premier League clash at Crystal Palace.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Bayindir; Dalot (Mazraoui 63), Maguire, Casemiro (c), Evans (De Ligt 78); Collyer, Ugarte (Fernandes 62); Antony, Eriksen, Garnacho (Amad 84); Rashford (Zirkzee 63).

Subs not used: Heaton, Martinez, Mainoo, Wheatley.

Goals: Rashford 16, 58, Antony 35 (pen), Garnacho 45+2, 49, Eriksen 81, 85.

Barnsley: Slonina; De Gevigney, Roberts (McCarthy 46), Earl; Cotter (Lofthouse 63), Connell (c), Phillips, Yoganathan (Craig 46), O’Keefe; Watters (Cosgrove 56), Jalo (Humphrys 46).

Subs not used: Killip, Russell, Benson, Marsh.

Booked: Slonina, Humphrys, O'Keefe

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