Manchester United took a significant step in qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League, with a 4-0 win over Feyenoord.

United were dominant throughout, with good chances for Paul Pogba and Michael Carrick coming before Wayne Rooney opened the scoring in the 35th minute.

They took it up a gear in the second period, with efforts from Juan Mata and a Brad Jones own-goal, before Jesse Lingard's stoppage time effort secured the convincing victory.

Out of the traps

It had been a so-so European campaign for Jose Mourinho's side, and they needed a win against Phillip Cocu's side to have a chance of progression.

The Red Devils started brightly, and had two decent opportunities to open the scoring in the early stages.

The first came in the 18th minute, as Pogba tried one from 20 yards, but Jones did well to tip it over the crossbar.

The second came from the subsequent corner, as it came out Carrick on the edge of the box. His low effort looked destined for the bottom corner, but a combination of Jones and Dirk Kuyt cleared it on the line.

Cocu's side had hardly been in the contest, but almost took the lead before the half-hour mark. Eljero Elia put a dangerous ball into the area, and both Nicolai Jorgensen and Kuyt had bites at the cherry, but Sergio Romero did well with some excellent stops.

A historic strike

It had been a rough few weeks for Rooney, and he took decent steps to proving his critics wrong as he opened the scoring.

The skipper started the move, giving the ball to Zlatan Ibrahimovic who played it back. Rooney took a touch before dinking it over Jones, taking him above Ruud van Nistelrooy as United's top scorer in European competition.

Looking to double up

Mourinho's side didn't let up as the second period got underway, and had two chances early on to double their lead.

Mata had an audacious effort in the 51st minute, as he looked to chip Jones from the edge of the box, but he did well to tip it over.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan looked to impress Mourinho on a rare first-team opportunity. The Armenian played a one-two with Ibrahimovic before trying a shot, but it nestled into the side-netting.

In quick succession

They continued to turn the screw on their Dutch counterparts, and ended the tie with their second and third goals.

The first came in the 69th minute, and it was excellent from Rooney. Ibrahimovic played it through to the skipper who produced a great reverse pass for the Mata, who tapped it into the empty net.

The tie was ended in the 75th minute, and it was a calamity from Jones. Ibrahimovic had been causing havoc, and he was it again as the Swede played a ball into the six-yard area, and Jones somehow turned into the his own net.

Cherry on the cake

It had been a stellar performance from United, and they added the cherry on top in stoppage time as they added their fourth and final goal.

Lingard had tested the waters earlier on after been brought on for Rooney, and did brilliantly to curl the ball into the corner from the edge of the area.