2 ............. MAN UTD despite Cup-tie defeat

cross, but the ex-Liverpool man couldn’t quite stretch enough to poke his diving effort goalwards.

It seemed Town’s inability to finish their chances would come back to haunt them once again this season when Ashley Young played Mata in one-on-one with Lossl.

The Spaniard rounded Town’s No1 and slotted home – only to see his effort ruled out by VAR two minutes later.

The replay seemed to suggest Mata was fractionally onside, but the technology disagreed, keeping the score 1-0.

That technology wasn’t needed just before the interval, when Nemanja Matic’s goal was also ruled out for offside – with Town holding a good line from the deep free kick.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with the hosts having more of the ball and the best of the chances.

Van La Parra should have made the game level five minutes into the half, but he shanked his volleyed effort from Ince’s deflected free kick in the wrong direction.

And Town were eventually made to pay for their wastefulness in front of goal.

Following a Town corner, United sprung a quick counter-attack through Chilean star Alexis Sanchez, who slipped in Lukaku.

The striker made no mistake up against Lossl, slipping the ball to the Dane’s right – claiming his brace and sending the Red Devils into the quarter finals of the FA Cup.

Town continued to have the best chances after Lukaku had brought up his brace, but neither Billing nor substitute Abdelhamid Sabiri could halve the deficit with their final efforts.

Despite the loss, the performance was much more important for Town and they can take heart from their efforts at the John Smith’s Stadium and continue their positive momentum into next weekend’s crucial clash with West Bromwich Albion.