Two second half goals for Manchester United saw them avoid a cup upset despite a shaky performance at Yeovil Town.
With more than 9,200 watching at Huish Park the Glovers attacked from the first minute to scare Louis van Gaal in his debut match in the FA Cup.
While Yeovil Town labeled themselves as the original giant-killers after beating First Division Sunderland in 1949, goals from summer signings Ander Herrera and Angel Di Maria saw them knocked out of the cup in the third round.
League One Yeovil matched the multi-million pound Manchester United side and Kieffer Moore scuffed a great chance from 7 yards out. Joe Edwards, Manchester United fan and Yeovil Town Captain, had a header cleared off the line by Angel Di Maria.
Ander Herrera provided a moment of magic that Premier League clubs often require to victor over the small fish. As Darren Fletcher's poor pass bobbled up the Spanish midfielder turned and, without even a glance towards Jed Steer's goal, looped the ball over the keeper.
“Herrera is class. It was a fantastic goal. I was very happy with him that he scored." - Louis van Gaal
After switching to a 4-4-2 diamond at half-time United remained shaky throughout defence and midfield but the aftermath to Herrera's fantastic strike was more positive for Louis van Gaal. Some would argue that they should be wiping Yeovil off the pitch but the 11 time winners of the competition kept possession as the clock ticked down.
Despite 67% of possession, Yeovil continued to reap rewards of constant pressing with Chris Smalling and Paddy McNair making mistakes with Moore and Gillett running around near David De Gea's penalty area.
It was a Yeovil attack, however, that saw Angel Di Maria, returning from injury, double Manchester United's lead. Wayne Rooney picked the ball up on the edge of his own box before launching a world-class 40-yard-ball towards Angel Di Maria's quick run. The Argentine outpaced his Yeovil counterpart before waiting till the last minute to cooly chip Jed Steer. With no halt in his run he ran over to the adoring United fans and pointed to the back of his shirt.
Within minutes the hard-working Yeovil players could finally take a selfie and swap a shirt with the world-renowned Manchester United. It was a committed and organised performance against a team who should have seen them off with ease. Yet the refusal to bow down to lack of concentration saw them rightfully earn applause long after the final whistle from the few hundred Glovers fans in Huish Park.
“When you see the performance of Yeovil Town it was fantastic. They pressed the ball. We didn't have patience in the first half” - van Gaal
Yeovil can take this as a great start to the New Year as they look to avoid the drop from League One. If they can perform with such organisation and concentration in the league they can easily avoid the dreaded consecutive drop through the leagues.
Manchester United face Southampton, who were forced into a replay by Ipswich Town, next in the Premier League and will need to thoroughly improve on an average performance against Yeovil if they want to get anything from the top four clash. The hard work starts now for Louis van Gaal's United side.