Manchester United is through to the FA Cup fifth round after beating Arsenal 3-1 at the Emirates on Friday to remain unbeaten under new coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Red Devils jumped out to a 2-0 lead, saw the lead cut it half and then put the game away late in another fantastic display from the club.
United led 2-0 after just 33 minutes, and despite not seeing much of the ball, the result never seemed in doubt after the half start.
Let's break the result down with three quick takeaways.
Lukaku's passing was on point
Romelu Lukaku is often criticized for his touch, especially his first touch, which sometimes is off and prevents him from making an impact. In this affair, he was a bit more confident on the ball and showed off the touch with his passing skills, assisting the first two goals. The first assist to former Arsenal man Alexis Sanchez was a lovely little ball to break the backline. Take a look:
The second to Jesse Lingard was a patient, well-timed pass when his teammate dropped into space in the box, putting the ball away calmly.
Lukaku has been more of a role player off the bench as of late, so a strong performance here should lead to more minutes in upcoming matches. This was his first start since Jan. 5, and he delivered with some fine passes.
Arsenal's defense is banged up
An already struggling defense lost the Spanish defender Hector Bellerin to an ACL injury last weekend, and then Laurent Koscielny picked up a nasty cut and was taken off on Friday. Sokratis also left the game injured. You've got a weak backline that lost both central defenders in one game. That's bad news moving forward for the Gunners. When healthy, the Arsenal defense has looked poor for the most part, especially at tracking back. Friday's match was no different, as the defense was a step behind United the entire night. It's time for Unai Emery to find some new defenders or change the system around, because this team's defense has holes. Koscielny and Sokratis looked sharp last weekend against Chelsea, and in this one it was like night and day.
United's plan worked to perfection
Remember the trend we saw at the World Cup where having the ball didn't really mean you were dominating the game? That's the trend we've seen in other competitions as well. The game seems to be shifting to one where the most important factor is getting forward in numbers, with possession not really mattering as much.
That's what United did. The Red Devils sat back for the most part and looked to go on the counter attack, and it resulted in the second and third goals. With 37 percent possession, United finished with four shots on frame and put three of them away. Two of those goals were because of the speed and numbers they had going forward.
It's a recipe that continues to work for United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and so far nobody has been able to stop them.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way during Manchester United's FA Cup victory. Relive updates from the match below. If you are unable to view the live updates below, please click here.
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