Manchester United ease past Colchester to progress to Carabao Cup semi-finals

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Old Trafford reign is a year old today and, while he has not been afraid to admit it may be a while yet before Manchester United are competing at football’s top table again, an early piece of silverware would be a valuable short-term shot in the arm.

The League Cup certainly helped to provide a springboard to better things for Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2006 when he was rebuilding for the umpteenth time and Solskjaer will hope it can offer a similar catalyst after watching his side see off Colchester to reach next month’s two-legged semi-final.

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It has been some run from the League Two club, who had already dispatched two Premier League sides in Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur to get this far, but, despite managing to frustrate United with their blanket defence in the first half, the dam eventually burst soon after the restart and from there the goals poured in.

This was a performance of two very contrasting halves for United’s man of the moment, Marcus Rashford, who could not have cut a more chaotic presence in the first period before claiming his 14th goal in his last 16 games for club and country as he helped to take the game away from Colchester. An own goal from Ryan Jackson and a tap in from Anthony Martial quickly followed and Solskjaer could turn his thoughts to Watford on Sunday.

There was never any danger of Colchester trying to play expansively but why would they have when they have seen what happens when United are asked to break down teams that sit deep and defend in numbers? Okay, so there is defending deep in the Premier League and there is this - 10 men defending more or less on their eighteen yard line in what effectively became a 4-6-0 formation.

Picture trying to carry a tray of drinks from one side of a packed nightclub to the other, via the dancefloor, and you get an idea of what United were tasked with trying to navigate here but it was telling that the visiting side had very little defending of the last ditch variety to do.

You would expect bodies being flung everywhere but, until Luke Prosser threw himself at the ball to block a shot from Anthony Martial three minutes from the interval, Colchester, in the main, just had to stay compact and organised and congest things as much as possible. There was a huge cheer from the 5,271 Colchester fans when their team won a corner in the dying embers of the first half and cries of ‘ohhh’ when Callum Harriott flashed a shot just wide of a post, which told you everything about the direction of play.

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Solskjaer will have been bitterly disappointed his team did not have more to show for 80 per cent possession, although this was one of those curious halves when Marcus Rashford looked raw and rushed rather than the world beater he has resembled in recent weeks. With a cooler head from the England striker, United would have been in front and coasting.

Twice Andreas Pereira put balls on a plate for him and twice he fluffed his lines, firstly failing to control a simple pass when clean through and then swiping frantically at thin air with his right boot on the six yard line when the ball just required a crisp prod into the bottom corner.

His, and the home crowd’s relief, then, when United scored on the counter after a rare show of adventure by Colchester was palpable. It was some goal, too, and another reminder of how much better United are on the break than working in tight spaces they do not have the schemers to unlock. Tom Lapslie had sent right back Ryan Jackson careering down the right. His shot was on target but smothered by Sergio Romero and from the point of the United keeper throwing the ball to Nemanja Matic to Rashford blasting into the net, just 12.1 seconds had elapsed.

With Lapslie out of position after charging forward, Matic was able to float a pass into the huge area of space in Colchester’s right back position. Rashford was on it like a bullet and made a dash for the penalty area, first putting Prosser on his backside and then Thomas Eastman before drilling the ball into the top corner.

And from that point, there was only ever going to be one winner. Colchester’s resistance broken, space began to open up and United exploited it. Pereira, a lively presence all night, found Ashley Young on the right who quickly slipped a pass into Mason Greenwood ahead of him. Greenwood’s cross was a beauty and a horror for Jackson who, under pressure from Rashford at the far post, turned into his own net. Two soon became three when Juan Mata picked up possession from Greenwood just outside the D and clipped a lovely ball over the top for Rashford to square from the left for Martial, who slid in to score.

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