Young Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe, described his senior debut as "crazy" as the Red Devils easily passed into the fifth round of the FA Cup with the 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic.

Dream come true

United have a number of bright fledglings in their youth side, and some of them were given their opportunity when former academy coach Warren Joyce visited his old stomping ground with his Latics side.

It was routine victory for Jose Mourinho's side with goals from; Marouane Fellaini, Chris Smalling, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Bastian Schweinsteiger giving them the easy passage into the last 16.

Tuanzebe came on for Timothy Fosu-Mensah in the 68th minute, and the 19-year-old shared his delight at making his senior debut.

"It was crazy," Tuanzebe told manutd.com. "I’ve been thinking about this since I was a little boy and now it’s come true."

"I can’t really believe it’s happened," he admitted. "Me and my family are very proud, but now it’s just about getting back to the training ground and going again."

"If I’m with the Under-23s, I’m with the Under-23s," the youngster stressed. "But I’ll stay humble and keep working hard to get another opportunity to play again."

"You don’t look back," the defender stated. "A coach of ours was saying that the hardest part is staying in [the squad]."

Tuanzebe concluded: "So I’ll have to get back to the training ground and keep grinding every day."

Only just the start

Tuanzebe wasn't the only youngster to make his debut, with the returning goalkeeper Joel Pereira coming on for Sergio Romero with 10 minutes to play.

The 20-year-old spent the first half of the season at Portuguese side Belenenses, and Pereira stated that he enjoyed his first taste of senior experience.

"Me and my family are very happy," he said. "They were watching at home on the TV."

"I have already spoken to them on the phone," the goalkeeper stated. "They congratulated me and we are all very happy."

"I want to thank the manager for the opportunity to play here at Old Trafford," the 20-year-old stressed. "It is very important to me."

"This is only a little part of my career," he admitted. "I want to play many more games for this club."

"It’s just step by step," Pereira concluded. "I will keep focusing and training and see where that takes me."

Manchester United will take on Hull City at Old Trafford on Wednesday, February 1 with kick-off at 8pm GMT.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.