The Unexpected Delirium Live Blog: Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United, FA Cup 3rd Round
Manchester United have been blowing hot and cold for a while, but they should ease past Wigan Athletic... shouldn't they?
10.10: Full-time: Wigan Athletic 0-2 Manchester United: I’m not certain that you can infer a great deal about Manchester United from this performance. Wigan were not a particularly strong opposition, who struggled to create very much in front of goal. Still, the break seemed to have done Marcus Rashford some good, and Alejandro Garnacho continues to impress, if only in bursts.
But it seems doubtful that anyone closely connected will feel that a 2-0 win away to the 18th placed team will be proof of turning any particularly significant ‘corner’. Was it a penalty? Well, it was given, and that is all that really matters. Remember when it was like this in every match?
In conclusion, there probably wasn’t anything that Manchester United could have done tonight that would assuaged their critics this evening, but they won the match and with some degree of comfort. Baby steps, I guess.
10.05: A penalty kick being awarded and the injury had led me to the idea that there might be a fair few minutes to add on here, but there’s only four, as it turns out. Martial Godo goes off for Wigan, and Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, who are replaced by Omari Forson, whose debut will last no more than three minutes, and Hannibal.
10.00: Time is running out now for Wigan, with two minutes plus stoppage-time to play and they don’t really seem any closer to forcing an equaliser. Garnacho is replaced by Facundo Pellistri (remember HIM?). Varane has a shot from distance which thumps of a Wigan back and spins wide.
9.55: Rashford breaks as gaps start to open up in the Wigan defence, but Rashford’s shot is blocked by Tickle, who then palms a shot from Garnacho wide. Eight minutes to play, and Wigan still haven’t created much like a clear chance since the third minute.
9.50: Seen ‘em given, and it was a rash challenge from Liam Shaw. But if any contact whatsoever is now the threshold for a penalty, then I think that ends up making something of a mockery of it all. Second sub for Wigan, and the Wigan substitute McManaman comes on and immediately gets stuck into Garnacho. But it does look as though this game is just about done.
9.45: GOAL! Wigan Athletic 0-2 Manchester United, and it’s come from the penalty spot from Bruno Fernandes, after Fernandes somewhat theatrically went down under a challenge—well, a tap on the foot—which apparently was the equivalent of getting shot in the ankle. There was contact, but it was minimal. Ally MCoist doesn’t believe it was enough to bring him down, and I’m minded to agree.
9.40: We’re now twenty minutes into the second half, and neither team have created much, so far. One decent save from Mr Tickle (Sam, to those who know him well), Rashford’s corkscrew, Godo’s ‘moment’, and… that’s about it, I think. We’re long past the point of the game at which the second Manchester United goal kills the game, and McTominay has a shot deflected narrowly wide for a corner. At the other end, Godo breaks on the left but has the ball nicked off him, and Wigan can’t do anything with the corner.
9.35: They’re having a bit of a break here, while Raphael Varane receives treatment for a clonk on the nose from an out-stretched arm from Aasgaard, who may be a touch lucky that there’s no VAR tonight. It wasn’t the most open and shut of cases, but we’ve certainly seen them given upon second inspection.
Dalot completes a quick rugby league audition by absolutely humping a shot high and wide.
9.30: A sniff of a chance for Wigan, when the ball is delivered into a half-asleep Manchester United penalty area, only for Godo to end up unable to bring it properly under control. Within a minute, he’s slung the ball over from the left, but it’s too deep for Aasgaard to be able to get on the end of it.
9.25: It’s been a somewhat less open start to the second half than it was to the first. Space is more compressed, with Manchester United pressing high on Wigan, who end up belting the ball upfield. United then get back to forty yards from goal, lose possession, lather, rinse, repeat.
9.20: And we’re back. Both teams shooting towards the opposing team’s supporters, this half. A couple of minutes in, Rashford screws a shot across the goal and harmlessly wide.
9.00: Half-time, and it’s still 1-0 to Manchester United. How, you might ask yourself, could this be the case when they’ve controlled possession so effectively and created a fair few chances? My dear, sweet summer child, welcome to Manchester United. Wigan have created little bits here and there, so this one isn’t done yet, but United deserve their lead. And both Newport and Eastleigh will be celebrating this half-time score probably louder than anyone else. Back in 15 minutes for another half of red hot soccer.
8.55: Wigan have another decent attacking spell and force a couple of corners, but they then concede unnecessarily and Manchester United break. The ball ends up on the right hand side of ther Wigan penalty area and Garnacho’s twenty yard thunderbastard crashes out off the Wigan crossbar.
8.50: Another chance for Hojlund. This time, Rashford’s shot is parried by Tickle straight into the striker’s path, but his reaction isn’t lightning fast enough and the ball kinda bounces off him and rolls behind.
8.45: There’s a chance for Wigan when a cross is flicked towards goal by Godo but he turns it wide. He was completely unmarked and it looked at first as though he may have been offside, but the replays calls that into some doubt and no flag went up (no VAR, remember?).
Barely a minute later, a ball in from the right finds Hojlund just a few yards out but he scoops the ball against the top of the crossbar and a way.
8.40: GOAL! Wigan Athletic 0-1 Manchester United, and it’s Dalot curling the ball into the corner of the goal from the left hand corner of the penalty area.
Within seconds, Rashford’s shot is spilled by Tickle and almost bounces over the line before being reclaimed. This evening has travelled quite a long way south quite quickly for Wigan. Manchester United looking in control of things now.
8.35: ARGGGGGHHHHH SAM MATTERFACE FOR GOD’S SAKE (Look, I lasted 20 minutes, okay?)
Don’t ask Ally McCoist about whether a handball was “deliberate” or not. Intention has not been part of the laws of the game since they were rewritten in 1997. That’s 27 years ago, now we’re in a new year. For God’s sake.
There’s a bit more pressure from Manchester United again, and Rashford is looking particularly spritely.
On twenty minutes, Fernandes one-twos it with Dalot then pushes the ball inside to McTominay, who shoots wide when he… profbably should have scored? Certainly, United’s best chance of the game so far.
8.30: It’s been a very open start to the game, and it’s difficult to say which of the two teams this benefits more. Marcus Rashford wriggles free inside the left-hand side of the penalty area and has a shot superbly saved by Sam Tickle, and United’s corner comes to nothing.
8.25: Okay, so Manchester United have settled and are controlling possession better now, but what an opening. If the players weren’t nervous before the game, they might well be after that opening. It was the speed of the Wigan break, in which there was no waiting for Godo (no, YOU shut up) as he burst down the right.
Sean Clare also just has a little run into the United penalty area before getting blocked off by Mainoo. With United seemingly targeting their left and Wigan targeting their right, it does feel rather as though this one strip of turf might see a lot of use tonight.
8.20: The decision to effectively put out a full first team this evening strengthens Ten Hag’s hand in terms of getting a result this evening, but it also turns up the pressure if he doesn’t. Wigan are 18th in League One. The safety net of saying “it’s only the kids” (while I don’t count that, others do) is removed by his team selection tonight.
First chance to Wigan, inside three minutes! A break down the right hand side and the ball is swept across goal for Aasgaard, whose shot is excellently blocked by Onana! Then follows a low cross which Onana has to smother!
8.15: No VAR tonight, which inevitably means that there will be some sort of contentious decision which will result in somebody complaining that VAR would have given it. Manchester United kick-off, shooting from right to left in the first half. The pitch looks a little threadbare, a consequence of sharing with the rugby league team, I dare say.
8.10: Here they come, then. Wigan Athletic in blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts and socks, Manchester United in red shirts, white shorts and white socks. There’s a big crowd at The DW Stadium for this one. Doesn’t look like there are many empty seats. Time for an ITV ad break, naturally.
8.05: With my supporter hat on, well, I guess the best I can say is that at least it wasn’t Manchester City away. Otherwise, most of the biggest of guns have fairly comfortable draws. Liverpool are at home, Manchester United go to League Two or the National League. Chelsea vs Aston Villa will be a test of how far Mauricio Pochettino’s recent improvement has come with Chelsea. A tough tie for both teams.
Elsewhere, there’s mixed news for the remaining non-league teams, both of whom, weirdly, I’ve already seen in the FA Cup this season. Maidstone United (4-1 winners at Steyning Town in the Second Qualifying Round) travel to Ipswich Town in the next round, but Eastleigh (5-1 winners against Boreham Wood in the First Round) might have landed the draw of the round. If they can beat Newport in their replay next week and Manchester United can get past Wigan, they could be in for a not-insignificant payday. Because that’s what the FA Cup is all about. Money.
Back at The DW Stadium, the teams will be out in a few minutes.
8.00:
The draw! (ctd)
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Ipswich Town vs Maidstone United
Liverpool vs Norwich City or Bristol Rovers
Spurs vs Manchester City (FFS)
Leeds United vs Plymouth Argyle
Crystal Palace or Everton vs Luton Town or Bolton Wanderers
Newport County or Eastleigh vs Wigan Athletic or Manchester United
Sheffield United vs Brighton & Hove Albion
Fulham vs Newcastle United
And that’s the lot! Initial thoughts in five minutes!
7.55: The bag o’ balls is emptied from the sack, and off we go!
Watford vs Southampton: a fixture which perpetually feels as though it should be being played in 1984.
Blackburn Rovers vs Wrexham
Bournemouth vs Swansea City
West Bromwich Albion vs Brentford or Wolves)
West Ham United or Bristol City vs Nottingham Forest or Blackpool
Leicester City vs Hull City or Birmingham City
(I’m going to update these every five minutes, BTW)
7.50: Evening, all. I presume we’ve all got our 3D glasses on and have those extra large tubs of popcorn ready, because it’s Manchester United time again! Except, it’s not quite as simple as that, is it? United are the current reigning champions of the Premier League’s Inconsistency Index. Since returning from the November international break, their record has been W-D-L-W-L-L-D-L-W-L, so it’s hardly as simple as saying that they’re definitely going to come a cropper in this one, is it? And on top of that, they were poor in their last game at Nottingham Forest but they’ve had a ten day break since that match, so things should be… heavily in their favour, right? Perhaps the only honest answer that can be give to this question is, who knows?
But anyway, teams:
Wigan: Tickle, Sessegnon, Clare, Morrison, Hughes, Jones, Adeeko, Shaw, Aasgaard, Godo, Humphreys.
Manchester United: Onana, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund, Garnacho, Varane, Dalot, Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Mainoo, McTominay.
Now, it had been said that Erik ten Hag has intending to give a couple of players their debuts tonight, but it would appear that Ten Hag has instead decided to play pretty much a full-strength team for this one. Rasmus Højlund and Scott McTominay are in for Christian Eriksen and Antony.
(Viewers in the UK are reminded that this evening’s match is on real television, on ITV1 and on the ITVX streaming app. I’m not getting paid to say this, by the way, just a public service announcement.)
But first… THE DRAW FOR THE FOURTH ROUND!
Preamble: Welcome one and welcome all to this evening’s Unexpected Delirium live blog of the FA Cup Third Round match between Wigan Athletic and Manchester United. This is… something of an experiment. I used to do these—and really enjoyed them—on 200%, but I don’t know how easy it will be to do so on this particular platform, so this could crash and burn before we even get to kick-off time.
But first of all, a little bit of background to tonight’s match. Few of us can forget the drama of the 2013 Community Shield, when two goals from Robin Van Persie opened the Old Trafford career of David Moyes with a piece of silverware in his very first match. It was surely the first game that anyone thought of when these two teams were drawn to play each other in the Third Round of this year’s FA Cup.
Actually, the trajectory of these clubs has both been somewhat strange since that 2013 showdown. In the ten full years since then, Wigan Athletic have burned through ten managers and had one spell in administration, have been relegated from the Championship into League One four times and been promoted back three times, each time as champions.
Manchester United, on the other hand, have won the FA Cup and the Europa League once each, and the Carabao Cup twice. They’ve had six managers (excluding brief caretakers), but they haven’t been relegated once, and haven’t spent any time in administration either, so they’re ahead of Wigan on each of those particular metrics. That said, Wigan have lifted a league title three times since 2013, while that year marks the last time that Manchester United did.
But both teams have been in a little bit of a slump this season. Wigan were in the League One relegation places for most of the first three months, but their form has improved enough for them to have pulled themselves up to 18th place in the League One table. Manchester United, on other hand, arrive at The DW Stadium in 8th place in the Premier League, protected from falling into the bottom half of the table only by a three point cushion over Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers (and a two point cushion over Newcastle).
Having lost 2-1 at Nottingham Forest on the 30th December, this is Manchester United’s first game of 2024. But will the rest have done them any good? Considering the fresh round of teeth-gnashing which followed that match, it’s tempting to think that things couldn’t get any worse, but if there’s one thing that Manchester United have been very good at this last decade, it’s been persuading people that things couldn’t get any worse, offering a tiny glimmer of false hope, and then whippping it away again, as quickly as it arrived.
Now, I don’t have any smart doohickies for this, so I’ll be relying on updating it by refreshing on this post. Kick-off is at 8.15, but I’ll be back at about 7.45 with this evening’s team news and and then again shortly before kick-off with the draw for the next round (which is being made at 7.50) and to take you all through it. See you all in a while, I hope!