Louis van Gaal can finally breathe a sigh of relief after Manchester United put up a strong performance against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup fifth round.
The Red Devils registered a comfortable 3-0 win over Shrewsbury Town, and as a result they have now made it to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
Goals from Chris Smalling, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard sealed the victory for United on Monday.
In a crucial week, in which United will face FC Midtjylland and Arsenal, nothing would have been more welcoming than a straightforward win. This victory will give the Red Devils a lot of confidence ahead of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 return leg against the Danish outfit, who beat them 2-1 in the first leg.
Manchester United went on the attack right from the start, with Shrewsbury Town players finding it difficult to deal with Anthony Martial, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard. However, the deadlock was only broken eight minutes before halftime, when the opponents failed to clear the ball and the ball looped and landed onto Smalling's feet. The English defender did not make any mistake in putting the ball into the far-right corner.
The Red Devils made it 2-0 minutes a few minutes later, when Martial was pulled down just outside the penalty box. Mata took the freekick and curled the ball into the back of the net. The Spaniard was at his best in this FA Cup fifth round tie against Shrewsbury Town and as a result, he was adjudged the man of the match.
"I think it's a very special competition to play in. There is a lot of history and many difficult games against sides like this one and I think we did well from the beginning and that was key," Mata told MUTV.
United added the third in the 61st minute, when Ander Herrera's cross reached Lingard. The youngster has been in good goalscoring form, and he added another to his name with a close-range finish.
Van Gaal's men could have added a few more goals, as they missed a number of chances, but the manager was happy with the performance.
"I am satisfied. I have to say that the first 70 minutes we were controlling the game and won every second ball and played very good. We kept the ball also and scored goals -- we could have scored more I think," Van Gaal was quoted as saying by ManUtd.com.
Manchester United will now face West Ham United in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
Watch the full highlights of the game here:
