MAN UNITED’S BIG WIN MARRED BY FAN ANGER
AS LIVERPOOL HELD BY SHREWSBURY TOWN
Birkenhead: Manchester United supporters used an FA Cup fourth-round 6-0 hammering of League One Tranmere Rovers yesterday to again voice their frustration with the club’s owners and executive vicechairman Ed Woodward.
United scored five times in an amazing first-half at Prenton Park, with skipper Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot claiming their first goals for the club and Phil Jones getting his first since March 2014 under David Moyes.
Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial were also on target in the first period to give the 2,000-strong visiting support a high point in an otherwise tortuous season and end any thoughts of a shock FA Cup defeat that would heap further pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But they also spent five minutes chanting against the Glazer family and Woodward, who was not at the game. The chants appeared to be sung by the vast majority of United fans and ended with “We’re Man Utd, we’ll sing what we want”.
United’s fans are annoyed at what they view as a lack of investment in the team, a long-held belief that has grown during the current transfer window with the team fifth in the Premier League and in obvious need of reinforcements yet with no signings having been made so far.
The team did not need additional assistance today though, with Mason Greenwood adding a second-half penalty as United scored six for the first time since 2011, when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge.
When asked about the chants after the game, Solskjaer said: “We are just going to keep on working and trying to get the results right and move the club forward. “Supporters are always happier when you win games and are successful. We will just keep working to get this right.
On the result Solskjaer added: “A lot has been said and written about this pitch. We played it well.
“We didn’t want to make it a long-ball fight - we got the ball down and scored nice goals.
“We have good footballers. They give everything in every game.
“It’s important we spread goals through the team. We’ve lost Marcus [Rashford] for a little while. Our two strikers scored - it is a confidence boost for everyone.
“You can see everyone wanted us to fail but it doesn’t bother me. I can’t be up and down [emotionally]. I’m happy but won’t relax. There are two big games coming up.”
FA Cup results: Manchester City 4-0 Fulham, Tranmere Rover 0-6 Manchester United, Shrewsbury 2-2 Liverpool.