Manchester United edge past defiant Derby County in FA Cup

Manchester United edge past defiant Derby County in FA Cup
Manchester United will be looking to bounce back from defeat to Southampton last time out. | Photo: Rex Features
danial_kennedy
By Danial Kennedy
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21:48 - Thank you for joining me for VAVEL's coverage of Derby - Manchester United you can find me on Twitter @Danialkennedy95 and until next time have a great night

21:47 - United dominated in the second period and got their reward with strikes from Blind and Mata giving them the win and will ease the pressure on Van Gaal

21:47 - United dominated in the first period with Rooney's spectacular effort but were level through Thorne

21:46 - United are into the fifth round with a comfortable victory

FT - Derby 1-3 Manchester United

89' - moments to go here at the iPro and in the end United have managed to pull through after their first half scare

83' - Its over! the goalscorer was replaced Herrera but not before sending United into the fifth round. Martial again was causing problems as he gets beyond Christie and managed to pick out Mata who made no mistake from seven yards 3-1 United.

83' - GOAL Derby 1-3 Manchester United

76' - Last throw for the dice for Paul Clement with Thorne and Johnson coming off for Russell and Hendrick

73' - Sub for United as Schneiderlin is brought off for Michael Carrick

72' - Goalscorer Blind tries to play it to Martial but Christie plays it back to Carson still remains 2-1 United

65' - United regain the lead! and once again it is another good goal Mata is allowed too much space as he swipes it Lingard and Blind is there first time to sweep it home 2-1 United

65' - GOAL Derby 1-2 Manchester United

59' - First sub of the night with Blackman coming off by Camara

58' - United go back on the attack as Lingards deflected cross finds Mata but his diving header goes agonisngly wide

51' - Derby have a great chance when Christie played a dangerous ball into the area which almost found Ince but it just evaded him. Warnock picks up a booking for a foul on Varela

47' - Martial gets down the wing once again and plays a ball into the area but nobody there to get on the end of it still 1-1.

46' - We are back underway!

20:51 - The second half is to follow shortly

20:50 - What a end to the half, it has been all United and took the deserved lead through Rooney but a equaliser from Thorne sees the game at the halfway stage

HT - Derby 1-1 Manchester United

39' - Martial gets to the byline before playing to Rooney who looks certain to score but Warnock does brilliantly to block the effort

36' - The home side are back in it! Thorne emerges out of the midfield as he creps onto the ball in the area and despite been under the pressure of the tackle he cooly finishes. 1-1.

36' - GOAL Derby 1-1 Manchester United

33' - Brilliant move from United between Martial, Mata and Rooney with the ball coming back to the Frenchman but the touch let him down still 1-0

26' - Rooney was at it again when he tried to put through Lingard over the top but it was well off target but United have dominated so far and played well still 1-0

21' - De Gea was tested when Blackman rose above Varela and forces the Spaniard to get down to collect the effort.

16' - United have took the lead! Its Rooney once again and it was in spectacular! The Captain recieved the ball on the edge of the area who managed to find a yard of space and made no mistake as he curled it into the far corner past Carson. 1-0 United

16' - GOAL Derby 0-1 Manchester United

11' - Johnson manages to knick the ball close the byline but Smalling did well to get across Christie tries the effort from long range but easy for De Gea

8' - Sheltered beginnings at the iPro Stadium with both sides just playing it around at the moment getting used to the tempo of the contest. 0-0

1' - And we are underway at iPro

19:37 - Little under 20 minutes until kick-off here at ipro and possibly 20 minutes until the last time  Van Gaal walks out as United manager

19:08 - Paul Clement has named an unchanged side from the 4-1 defeat to Burnley while Van Gaal has made to alterations with Guillermo Varela gets a rare outing at right-back with Matteo Darmian out, while Juan Mata comes in for Ander Herrera.

19:06 - Manchester United starting XI: De Gea, Varela, Smalling, Blind, Borthwick-Jackson, Fellaini, Schneiderlin, Mata, Lingard, Martial, Rooney

19:06 - Derby starting XI: Carson, Christie, Keogh, Martin, Shackell, Johnson, Butterfield, Blackman, Ince, Thorne, Warnock

19:01 - Team news to follow

19:00 - Louis Van Gaal heads to the iPro under a heaps of pressure and a defeat tonight could spell the end of his tenure at Manchester United

18:59 - Hi everyone I am Danial Kennedy and welcome to VAVEL's coverage of Derby - Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side dominated at Pride Park seven years ago in what was the fifth round, with goals from Nani, Darron Gibson, Cristiano Ronaldo and Danny Welbeck cancelling out Miles Addison’s effort and giving them the comfortable 4-1 victory.

The six times that two sides have met in the history of the illustrious competition, Derby have lost every time - their most recent meeting back in 2009.

Nonetheless, Clement does have head-to-head concerns and he will be wary of Friday’s opponents if their recent record with the Red Devils in the FA Cup is anything to go by.

There are no fresh injury concerns for Clement, with Max Lowe, Craig Forsyth and Will Hughes all long-term absentees while new signing Marcus Olsson will be available.

Experienced midfielders Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger could make their returns from injury and suspension respectively. However Ashley Young, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones are all out.

The Italian’s absence will open another possible opportunity for youngster Guillermo Varela in the first team though, while Cameron Borthwick-Jackson is in contention for a place at left-back.

Regarding team news, United’s long injury list continues to grow as, last weekend, full-back Matteo Darmian limped off in the defeat to Southampton with what proved to be a broken rib and a punctured lung - ruling him out of this fixture.

However, van Gaal's job was thrown into turmoil once again at the weekend with a late goal from new signing Charlie Austin giving Southampton a narrow 1-0 victory which brought with it a barrage of boos at Old Trafford. Consequently, van Gaal will be hoping to get back on track on Friday night.

They have not suffered defeat since that day at the Britannia Stadium though, their five games unbeaten topped off by the 1-0 victory over bitter rivals Liverpool.

Van Gaal has been under real pressure for a number of weeks after a terrible run going into the Christmas period, with the 2-0 defeat to Stoke City seeing people call for his sacking.

Cristiano Ronaldo was on the scoresheet the last time these two met in the FA Cup, back in 2009. | Photo: Zimbio
Cristiano Ronaldo was on the scoresheet the last time these two met in the FA Cup, back in 2009. | Photo: Zimbio

For the visitors, on the other hand, it has been another week to forget for them and manager Louis van Gaal as the Dutchman’s job hangs by a thread once again.

They fared better in the cup when they bypassed Hartlepool United in third round. They found themselves behind through a Jake Gray goal, but strikes from Jacob Butterfield and Darren Bent gave them passage with a narrow 2-1 win.

The fashion that they have been losing in will also be a concern for manager Paul Clement - the team shipping seven goals in the last two matches, with 3-0 and 4-1 defeats to Birmingham City and Burnley respectively.

However, they have only managed two points in their five matches since, which has seen them drop right down into fifth - seven points adrift of current leaders Hull City.

Derby have endured a fall from grace lately. At the beginning of the season, and midway through it, they looked a certain bet to be promoted back into the top flight of English football for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign, with their 2-0 victory over Fulham on Boxing Day sending them top of the table.

Hello and welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of tonight's FA Cup fourth round tie between Manchester United and Derby County. The match will take place at the iPro Stadium, with kick-off scheduled for 7:55PM.