Derby County 1-3 Manchester United: Martial shines in comfortable victory

Mtanchester United eased the pressure on manager Louis van Gaal by securing a comfortable 3-1 victory over Derby County in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Wayne Rooney put the Red Devils in front with a sublime curling effort after 16 minutes, though the England captain appeared to receive the ball in an offside position.

United were pegged back when George Thorne converted Chris Martin's superb hooked pass but centre-back Daley Blind found himself in the opposition area to restore the one-goal lead.

And Juan Mata completed the scoring late on by firing in after good work from the excellent Anthony Martial.

Van Gaal angrily denied reports he had offered to resign following defeat to Southampton last time out and this victory should buy him time as he looks to turn United's season around. 

The Dutchman made two changes to his team, with Guillermo Varela replacing the injured Matteo Darmian and Mata coming in for Ander Herrera, who was on the bench.

Martial threatened from the off but failed to find the target from an excellent position after a good move involving Rooney and Marouane Fellaini before Rooney put United ahead.







After exchanging passes with Martial to the left of the penalty area, Rooney ignored claims of offside and curled a wonderful dipping effort past Scott Carson and into the far corner.

David de Gea was equal to Nick Blackman's back-post header as the hosts looked for a swift response, but the Spain goalkeeper was unable to prevent the Rams's 37th-minute equaliser. 

A clever pass from Martin sent Thorne clear through the middle of United's defence and the midfielder needed only one touch to control before beating De Gea with a left-footed strike.

Blackman then cut inside and lashed an effort just wide as Derby went into the half-time break with the momentum. 

Another Blackman shot just missed the target at the start of the second half before Mata's close-range diving header from a deflected Jesse Lingard cross flew narrowly wide.

With 65 minutes on the clock, United moved back in front. A good passing move led to another Lingard delivery from the right and Blind, finding himself in unfamiliar territory, finished with an impressive first-time shot.

The win was sealed with seven minutes remaining when Martial, a persistent threat down the left, found Mata after a good run and cut-back and the Spain playmaker shot into the bottom corner for his first goal in 15 games.