Solskjær finds FA Cup respite as Manchester United hit Tranmere for six | Football

Ole Gunnar Solskjær found respite in the mud of Prenton Park where many others, as he duly noted afterwards, were looking for a potentially fatal slip. Manchester United made light of the conditions, the rising pressure on their manager and their own faltering form to cruise past Tranmere into the fifth round of the FA Cup with their biggest victory since the 8-2 defeat of Arsenal in August 2011.

Rovers, 21st in League One and showing the effects of Thursday’s extra-time win over Watford, were outclassed from the moment Harry Maguire drilled his first goal for United into the top corner of Scott Davies’s goal in the 10th minute. Solskjær could not resist the opportunity afterwards to take a petty dig at the Manchester City-supporting goalkeeper for pre-match comments that celebrated the demise of the Old Trafford club. “Thanks for helping us fire up the fans and the players,” the United manager said. His players should not need the jibes of a League One goalkeeper to motivate themselves to win for Manchester United but, if that is what it took, their response was emphatic.

United scored three times in six minutes, with their first three shots on target, to banish any trepidation that Solskjær may have felt about visiting lower league opponents who had nothing to lose. The prospects of an upset vanished in quick-fire fashion but Micky Mellon’s team made a determined start in their quest for a second Premier League scalp inside four days.

Until Maguire opened the scoring with an emphatic strike the home side, unchanged from the team that defeated Watford on Thursday, threatened an uncomfortable afternoon. Morgan Ferrier twice broke free inside the United area, Connor Jennings snatched at a shot straight at Sergio Romero, Maguire made an important clearance in front of his own goal and Phil Jones was booked for a foul on Ferrier before being clattered by the impressive Corey Blackett-Taylor. He emerged caked in mud from a sodden pitch. This had all the makings of a long and awkward cup tie. It was to United’s credit that they turned it into a procession.

The identity of United’s goalscorers will have encouraged their manager as much as the confidence behind their first three shots of the game. Maguire had not scored for United since his £80m arrival from Leicester but opened his account in fine style when Nemanja Matic found him in space deep in the Tranmere half. The England international cut inside David Perkins before unleashing an unstoppable right-foot finish into the top right corner. United settled instantly and assumed complete control of the tie from that point onwards.

Diogo Dalot, operating on the right of United’s four-man midfield, followed Maguire’s lead in claiming his first goal for the club minutes later. It was another quality finish. The defender exchanged passes with Anthony Martial outside Rovers’ penalty area and twisted the left-back, Liam Ridehalgh, inside and out before finding the far corner. Another surging run out of defence by Maguire led to United’s third. The central defender found Jesse Lingard and, although Maguire had continued his run into the penalty area, the midfielder used the space to curl a delightful shot round Peter Clarke and beyond Davies’s despairing dive.

Tranmere’s hopes of another shock or a lucrative replay at Old Trafford were shot. Their concern now was to avoid a repeat of last season’s 7-0 home defeat by Tottenham in the third round and, given the calibre of United’s finishing, another rout always looked a distinct possibility. By the interval United, without a goal in their previous two matches, had scored five first-half goals for the first time since beating Arsenal 6-1 in February 2001.

Jones scored the fourth with a towering header from an Andreas Pereira corner that sailed over Davies and Perkins on the Tranmere goal-line. Martial swept the fifth into the top corner via a deflection off Kieron Morris before being replaced at the interval by Tahith Chong. The youngster’s first significant contribution was to seize on a pass from Mason Greenwood while several Tranmere defenders hesitated inside their own area. Chong touched the ball beyond Davies before being sent sprawling by the goalkeeper and Greenwood dispatched the penalty confidently.

United’s biggest victory in almost nine years signalled welcome relief for their manager, though not the club’s owners. The away contingent, who sang Solskjær’s name throughout, reiterated their disdain for those at the top with chants of “We want Glazers out” and “We want United back.” They were not here in person to hear it, of course, and nor was the executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, who was subject to fierce abuse during the midweek home defeat by Burnley.

Lingard and Chong both struck the woodwork in the closing stages as Tranmere at least avoided a repeat of the Spurs’ scoreline. United eased into the fifth round professionally and comprehensively.