Manchester United breezed past Barnsley to progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup after hammering Barnsley 7-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
The League One side were no match for the Reds, with fans at Old Trafford gifted to a one-sided goal fest without the opposition threatening United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
It was the perfect result to build on Saturday’s 3-0 win over Southampton, and United have a trip to Crystal Palace up next in the Premier League.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring against Barnsley before Antony and Alejandro Garnacho added to the League One one’s misfortunate before the break.
In the second half, Garnacho and Rashford completed braces to make it 5-0 before Christian Eriksen scored a brace of his own to seal a 7-0 win.
Manuel Ugarte’s first start in Red
Our new midfield signing grabbed the headlines ahead of kick-off because he was handed his first start as a United player.
Ugarte joined from Paris Saint-Germain on transfer deadline day and made his first-team debut off the bench against Southampton.
In the game against Barnsley, the defensive midfielder managed one tackle and three interceptions. He also had 46 touches of the ball and completed 86.5% of his passes.
Ten Hag hailed Ugarte for his performance which lasted 62 minutes.
“I think he was good,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by Sky Sports. “In the first minute, you have to find your position, we have to – as a team – we have to find the right shape, but once we got it, then you see his level.
“He is really… he can really strengthen the squad and the team,” he added.
Ugarte is expected to start against Palace this weekend.
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Nice game last night. Let’s bring on this type of performance to the EPL.
You won’t find many teams in the Premier League as weak as Barnsley.
Yes, it was only Barnsley but there was some lovely touches in our attacking play and we scored 7. I would like to see this type of attacking play brought to our premiership games.
I think Ugarte will be good for us and will free up whoever plays beside him in midfield.