Alexis Sanchez settles in as Manchester United brush past Yeovil Town in FA Cup fourth-round clash
Yeovil Town 0 Manchester United 4: Jose Mourinho's men swept aside their League Two hosts to book a place in the FA Cup fifth round
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.He didn’t get his goal, but Manchester United did get through to the next round of the FA Cup thanks to some of his touches, marking a satisfactory if somewhat novel club debut for Alexis Sanchez.
It was left to Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera, Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku to finish for a 4-0 win away at Yeovil Town, the home fans quickly going back to crowding around the visitors’ bus for a glimpse of United’s elite.
Granted, Huish Park isn’t the most grandiose setting for a debut, but there was an amusing incongruity to the fact that Sanchez’s first match was in a stadium as modest this, after so much of the discussion surrounding this transfer was dominated by talk of money.
It also allowed the striker to remind everyone that he has always been a player willing to get his hands and boots dirty on the pitch, as he goes into everything full gun. Within that, and the weathering of a few tough home challenges, there were a lot of nice touches, some surging runs and at least one assist.
Whether the move for the first goal involved a Sanchez assist is doubtful given the unlucky contribution of Thomas James, and it meant any doubt about United easing into the fifth round without the need for a replay evaporated.
Amid all the raucousness about Sanchez, there were other encouraging elements for United, such as the displays of the retiring Michael Carrick and developing Scott McTominay, as well a fine contribution from Angel Gomes for the last goal.
Some Yeovil fans had used the interest in the match to protest and thereby draw attention to problems they see with how the club is run. There are real fears they will drop back down to non-league as they lie 21st in League Two, but you wouldn’t have guessed it from their first half, given the bravery they displayed in how they went at the game. They hit the ground running against United, and did cause a few moments of tension. There were a few dangerous surges from deep from Ryan Dickson and Jake Gray, and Omar Sowunmi might have done better with a free header from a free-kick, only to put it into Sergio Romero’s hands.
There was also aggression to go with their assertiveness, as illustrated when Francois Zoko left Marcos Rojo in a heap on the ground, or Nathan Smith got closer to Sanchez than anyone by going right through him.
The eternal issue for a lower-league side with that respectable approach, and the way these games usually go, is that it becomes increasingly difficult to play at that tempo but also play with control. Mistakes slip in, players slip, especially when you have to try to maintain concentration to maintain shape against attackers of such quality.
So it was on 40 minutes, when the poor James did Sanchez’s job for him and set up Rashford for the opening goal.
It was as if the defender - just yards from his own goal - didn’t realise the striker was there, tried to help it back to his keeper and only helped United on what had been a tricky night.
This instead fit with the more obliging atmosphere before the game. There had been a few Yeovil fans singing “who are you?” at the United bus as it arrived, only for a steward to ask them to “save it for the game” as if to be courteous to the guests. Remarkably, they stopped.
It didn’t mean they stopped booing Sanchez throughout, mind.
He got a lot in that regard, but the goal really meant that was your lot for the night. Any impetus had naturally been taken out of Yeovil, and it wasn’t long until it was 2-0.
Sanchez was again the source, Herrera this time the scorer, firing into the far corner of Artur Krysiak’s goal.
Having watched his new start bear the brunt of a few industrial challenges up to then with little protection from the referee, Jose Mourinho quickly decided to bring the Chilean off.
Substitute Jesse Lingard then went off on a run moments from the end, before blasting an effort into the roof of the net. Fellow substitute Romelu Lukaku then added a fourth, as United were taking advantage of that natural loss of energy lower-league sides will endure in such games.
There was still time for the home fans to show plenty of energy, when Sanchez was announced as man of the match. There followed some mischievous but not malevolent booing, the sentiment behind it illustrated by the amount of supporters craning for a mere glimpse of the Chilean after the game.
United fans meanwhile finally got to see him in their red shirt. That, just like this performance, was enough for now.
Bigger games and no doubt bigger moments await.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments