EFL Cup
SwanseaSwansea City0Man UtdManchester United2

Swansea City 0-2 Manchester United

By Dafydd PritchardBBC Sport Wales at the Liberty Stadium
Jesse Lingard
Jesse Lingard's only other goal this season came in the previous round's 4-1 win over Burton

Carabao Cup holders Manchester United reached the quarter-finals with a comfortable victory at Swansea City.

A much-changed United side controlled the tie and led at half-time as Marcus Rashford's deft back-heel allowed Jesse Lingard to score with a neat low finish.

The visitors doubled their lead in fine fashion after an hour, with a sweeping team move teeing up Lingard to head in his second.

Swansea, who had made eight changes themselves, offered precious little in attack as they succumbed to a fifth defeat from six home games this season.

United spurred on by Mourinho's words

Kristoffer Nordfeldt
Kristoffer Nordfeldt was well beaten by Lingard's header

Although United manager Jose Mourinho has won the League Cup four times during his career, he had suggested after the third-round win over Burton Albion that teams in Europe could benefit by not playing in this competition.

It was therefore no surprise that United made seven changes for their trip to south Wales, having suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season at Huddersfield on Saturday, after which Mourinho criticised their "poor attitude".

The barb seemed to have the desired effect, with three of the players involved at Huddersfield - Lingard, Rashford and Anthony Martial - setting the pace for a vibrant United start in Swansea.

The first two combined beautifully for the opening goal, as Rashford artfully flicked an Ander Herrera pass into the path of Lingard, who guided his low finish into the bottom corner.

United's second goal was equally impressive. Axel Tuanzebe started the move with a marauding run from defence and spread the ball to Matteo Darmian, whose pinpoint cross was headed in by Lingard.

Mourinho said that his side's application and concentration, like the result, were much improved from the weekend defeat at the John Smith's Stadium.

"Our attitude was very good. I'm really happy," he said.

"We were solid, we were comfortable, we were in control."

The victory marked Mourinho's 400th game in English football, accumulated over two separate spells at Chelsea as well as his time at Old Trafford.

Jose Mourinho in 2004
Mourinho's first game in English football was Chelsea's 1-0 win over Manchester United on 15 August 2004. Eidur Gudjohnsen scored the goal

"Of course I still get the same thrill from it, but 2004 was a long time ago," said the Portuguese.

"I am more mature and have a different way to react to things. I'm the same. I want to win and I hate losing."

Swansea's struggles continue

Paul Clement
Paul Clement's side have scored in only six of their 12 matches this season

Swansea's indifferent start to the season had seen them lose four of their five home league games, prompting head coach Paul Clement to make eight changes to the team beaten by Leicester on Saturday.

The squad rotation was meant to give some of his players a rest, but Clement's worst fears became reality at the end of the first half as Martin Olsson - the club's only specialist left-back - was forced off the field with a hamstring injury.

His withdrawal compounded a forgettable evening for the hosts as they barely forced their opponents out of first gear.

Among Swansea's new faces was 21-year-old striker Oli McBurnie, making his first start of the season after his proposed loan move to Championship club Barnsley had fallen through on transfer deadline day because the deal's paperwork had not been completed correctly.

However, his isolation up front was symptomatic of a Swansea display almost entirely devoid of attacking threat.

Swansea manager Paul Clement: "Always disappointed when you lose a game. We actually played better than we have been recently but Manchester United deserved to win the game, no question about that.

"We created a decent amount of chances, maybe nothing clear-cut until the last moment when [Sergio] Romero made that save from a set-play.

"They deserved the victory, they had the extra bit of quality and from our point of view, we just have to believe a good result and good performance is around the corner.

"We have to show determination to get through this difficult time that we're having."

Man of the match - Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard
Given licence to roam in a central attacking position behind the forwards, Lingard waltzed his way past a porous Swansea defence to help himself to two excellent goals.

Line-ups

Swansea

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13Nordfeldt
  • 22RangelBooked at 38mins
  • 5van der Hoorn
  • 6Mawson
  • 16OlssonSubstituted forNaughtonat 39'minutes
  • 4Ki Sung-yuengBooked at 70mins
  • 51MesaSubstituted forFerat 67'minutes
  • 15Routledge
  • 17ClucasBooked at 56mins
  • 18J Ayew
  • 62McBurnieSubstituted forAbrahamat 72'minutes

Substitutes

  • 8Fer
  • 10Abraham
  • 11Narsingh
  • 25Mulder
  • 26Naughton
  • 33Fernandez
  • 56Fulton

Man Utd

Formation 3-4-1-2

  • 20Romero
  • 2Lindelöf
  • 12Smalling
  • 38TuanzebeBooked at 75mins
  • 36Darmian
  • 21HerreraSubstituted forMaticat 67'minutes
  • 39McTominay
  • 17BlindBooked at 79mins
  • 14Lingard
  • 19RashfordSubstituted forLukakuat 67'minutes
  • 11MartialSubstituted forShawat 87'minutes

Substitutes

  • 4Jones
  • 8Mata
  • 9Lukaku
  • 22Mkhitaryan
  • 23Shaw
  • 31Matic
  • 40Castro Pereira
Referee:
Robert Madley
Attendance:
20,083

Match Stats

Home TeamSwanseaAway TeamMan Utd
Possession
Home43%
Away57%
Shots
Home10
Away13
Shots on Target
Home3
Away5
Corners
Home7
Away5
Fouls
Home17
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Swansea City 0, Manchester United 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Swansea City 0, Manchester United 2.

  3. Post update

    Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Sergio Romero.

  4. Post update

    Attempt saved. Leroy Fer (Swansea City) left footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Mike van der Hoorn.

  5. Post update

    Attempt missed. Mike van der Hoorn (Swansea City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Ki Sung-yueng with a cross following a corner.

  6. Post update

    Corner, Swansea City. Conceded by Scott McTominay.

  7. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Kyle Naughton (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Leroy Fer.

  8. Post update

    Jesse Lingard (Manchester United) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  9. Post update

    Foul by Leroy Fer (Swansea City).

  10. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Nemanja Matic (Manchester United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Jesse Lingard with a cross.

  11. Substitution

    Substitution, Manchester United. Luke Shaw replaces Anthony Martial.

  12. Post update

    Corner, Manchester United. Conceded by Alfie Mawson.

  13. Post update

    Matteo Darmian (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  14. Post update

    Foul by Tammy Abraham (Swansea City).

  15. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Jordan Ayew (Swansea City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Sam Clucas.

  16. Post update

    Foul by Anthony Martial (Manchester United).

  17. Post update

    Mike van der Hoorn (Swansea City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  18. Post update

    Attempt saved. Jesse Lingard (Manchester United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Matteo Darmian.

  19. Post update

    Offside, Swansea City. Tammy Abraham tries a through ball, but Wayne Routledge is caught offside.

  20. Post update

    Victor Lindelöf (Manchester United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

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