Manchester United are set to meet with archrival Man City in the fourth round of the English Football League (EFL). United defeated their third round opponents Northampton 3-1 on Wednesday.
Mourinho already tasted defeat when he faced off with Pep Guardiola in the Premier League this term. City comfortably trounced United 2-1 at Old Trafford.
The win over Northampton ends the successive defeats United have suffered in the Premier League and in Europe. The win didn’t come without its own share of imperfections, but at least the team got the job done. On the other hand, City breezed through a 2-1 win against Swansea City in a keenly contested game at Liberty Stadium.
The Red Devils stated the game well, handling the pressure from the host. However, towards the end of the first half, United started losing control. After the 15 minutes recess, it took the introduction of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford to change the game. Michael Carrick had gotten the opening goal, but a well taken penalty kick from Alex Revell canceled it. Daley Blind made a tackle on Sam Hoskins and the referee thought it rash. Revell took the kick, and converted it.
Rashford and Ibrahimovic injected confidence into the Red Devils set-up. The second goal came at the right time as it calmed the building nerves. Rashford did well to set up the goal, but the precision of Ander Herrera counted. Rashford himself got the third goal, continuing his brilliant start to this campaign.
For the rest of the fixtures in the fourth round; Liverpool would be meeting Tottenham Hotspur, while Chelsea will oppose West Ham. Arsenal will play host to Reading, after thrashing Nottingham 4-0. Bristol City will play Hull City; Leeds will take on Norwich; Newcastle will face-off with Preston, while Sunderland will visit Southampton.