A Young United...

United progressed to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup with a 2-1 win against Alan Pardew’s Newcastle side thanks to goals from midfielders Anderson and Cleverley.

United staring XI: De Gea, Vermijl, MKeane, Wootton, Buttner, Fletcher, Cleverley, Anderson, Rooney, Welbeck, Chicharito.

United captained by Darren Fletcher, a proud moment for him, played with one of their most inexperienced sides we’ve seen in quite a while. The back four with only one Barclays Premier League appearance between them. Left-back Alexander Buttner, the man with that sole league outing to his name.

United dominated possession for most of the match and the back four did extremely well considering their inexperience. Anderson and Cleverly played brilliantly as center halves retaining possession for long periods of the match.

Another positive for United was the return of Wayne Rooney from injury. Rooney as usual worked extremely hard throughout the match and created quite a few opportunities for Hernandez.

Wayne Rooney back from injury

United sporting a 4-4-2 formation almost had their hard work rewarded in the 35th minute when Tom Cleverly was 1-on-1 with Newcastle keeper Rob Elliot. But, he fired wide to the disappointment of the United fans.

United didn’t have to wait long to go ahead. Anderson collected an infield pass from Darren Fletcher, worked his way into some space and fired with his left foot into the Newcastle net. A sublime strike to put United 1-0 up a minute before half-time.

Anderson with an absolute beauty

Newcastle had opportunities of their own but, couldn’t find the net.

Tom Cleverly made up for his first half miss after steering in a pass from Danny Welbeck past Rob Elliot. It was a good finish which brought in a sense of relief around Old Trafford.

Tom Cleverly with the winner

But, it didn’t last long. Alan Pardew introduced Shane Ferguson and Papiss Cisse and they had an immediate impact on the game with Cisse nodding in Ferguson’s cross a minute after they were introduced just past the hour mark.

United had a few more good opportunities with Hernandez striking the bar from a Wayne Rooney pass and Anderson with a nother good strike just off target.

Sir Alex changed things around with Nick Powell and another debutant, Ryan Tunnicliffe, replacing Rooney and Vermijl.

United survived a scare in the 80th minute from Papiss Cisse who controlled the ball in the United box, and executed a near perfect over-head kick which beat De Gea but not the crossbar.

Robbie Brady became the fourth debutant taking over from Büttner after the Dutchman received a painful knock in the 85th minute.

United ended the match on a high with majority of the possession and a smile on Sir Alex Ferguson’s face. A lot of positives for United to take away from the match with Chicharito and Welbeck combining well up front and Anderson and Cleverly keeping possession when United most required it. The return of Wayne Rooney another huge positive.

The introduction of the youngsters were the biggest positives of the night for Sir Alex’s side. The back four staying strong till the end. A few hiccups along the way. But, all in all, a successful night for Sir Alex and his young United team.