LONDON: Manchester United thrashed third-tier Tranmere 6-0 and holders Manchester City beat Fulham 4-0 to advance into the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday.
United was in need of a convincing performance after 2-0 defeats to Liverpool and Burnley in the Premier League over the past seven days.
Captain Harry Maguire led by example by striding forward to smash home his first goal for the club since an £80 million ($105 million) move from Leicester.
Diogo Dalot then also grabbed his first United goal before Jesse Lingard curled home for just a second time in a year for club and country inside 16 minutes.
Phil Jones then nodded home his first United effort since 2014 and Anthony Martial’s deflected strike made it five before the break.
Tahith Chong was one of those introduced and he was brought down by Tranmere goalkeeper Scott Davies, allowing Mason Greenwood to score United’s sixth from the penalty spot.
Empty stands annoy Guardiola
Meanwhile, City strolled past Fulham at the Etihad Stadium with Ilkay Gundogan converted the from the spot for his side’s opening goal before Bernardo Silva’s smart turn and shot quickly doubled City’s advantage.
The visitors then held out for nearly an hour but two headers in three minutes from Jesus gave the scoreline a more accurate reflection of the English champions’ dominance.
But City manager Pep Guardiola was upset with not having a full-house.
“Hopefully more people can come than today, hopefully (they) can support us more,” said Guardiola. “I don’t know the reason why, but it was not full.”
City have now won 17 domestic cup ties in a row.
The Spaniard is relying on more cup success for silverware this season after conceding the Premier League title is beyond his side with Liverpool 16 points clear at the top of the table.
“Liverpool are just fantastic, phenomenal, overwhelming. So we have to accept it and learn from that,” Guardiola said on the eve of the game.
