Manchester United eased a little pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as they battered Tranmere 6-0 on an unhelpful Prenton Park playing surface to reach the FA Cup fifth round.
Solskjaer’s position has looked increasingly precarious following recent Premier League defeats to Liverpool and Burnley, and a third setback in the space of eight days to a side sitting third bottom in League One would have dramatically escalated the situation.
But Harry Maguire’s screamer was followed by cool finishes from Diogo Dalot and Jesse Lingard as United scored three times in six first-half minutes while Phil Jones and Anthony Martial also found the net before the interval.
Matters hardly improved for the hosts after the break as Mason Greenwood struck from the spot, meaning the sides’ second competitive meeting proved even more one-sided than their first – when United won 5-0 in 1977.
Take a look through the gallery to see how every player rated:
PA
