MCGREAL’S BOYS HIT BY RASH England man strikes first blow against gutsy Colchester
THEIR magnificent cup run may have ended in defeat against Manchester United, but Colchester United manager John McGreal was still mighty proud of his players.
The U’s were looking for their third Premier League scalp after knocking out Crystal Palace (away) and Tottenham (home) in penalty shootouts after goalless draws.
And it looked as though a repeat could be on the cards in the Carabao Cup quarter-final when Colchester kept the Red Devils out in the first half at Old Trafford.
However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s troops produced a devastating ten-minute spell early in the second half, scoring three times to put the game to bed.
England man Marcus Rashford, unusually profligate in the first half, broke the deadlock six minutes into the second half. After U’s right-back Ryan Jackson had an effort saved by Sergio Romero at one end, the Red Devils broke forward at speed, exploiting the space Jackson had, for once, left behind.
And it was Rashford, running at high speed, who cut in from the left, raced across the face of goal and rifled an unerring shot into the top corner.
Four minutes later the unlucky Jackson turned the ball into his own net from Mason Greenwood’s dangerous cross as the hosts stepped up a gear. And it was all over when Rashford teed up Anthony Martial to notch the third just after the hour mark.
Blown off course by that three-goal salvo, the U’s did well to regroup and prevent Manchester United running riot. While the Red Devils can look forward to a two-legged semi-final against neighbours Manchester City, Colchester
return to League Two duty.
But McGreal will be happy if they produce the same sort of gritty display they showed at Old Trafford.
“We stuck to the game plan and the idea was to frustrate them and to close the gaps,” he said. “I thought we did that to a man really.
“We gave away territory and possession but I was really proud of the first-half performance.
“However, these boys can turn it on at any given moment and Marcus has just found that little pocket.
“When he gets that opportunity, you hope he’s going to put it wide. But it ends up in the top corner and, sometimes, you lose a goal to a topclass player.”
A relieved Solskjaer told
Sky Sports: “We dominated, created chances, but you are never sure until you get that first goal. They are a hard team to break down and had 0-0 (results) against Palace and Tottenham.” Also through are Aston Villa and Leicester, who will meet in the semi-finals.
Villa showed no mercy to a youthful
Liverpool side, romping to a 5-0 victory at Villa Park. It was 4-0 at the break, with Jonathan Kodjia netting twice. Conor Hourihane had scored the opener and a Morgan Boyes own goal doubled the lead.
Wesley bagged Villa’s fifth in injury time as they brushed aside Liverpool’s youngest-ever starting lineup.
With the Reds’ senior players in action at the Club World Cup in Qatar, under-23s boss Neil Critchley led a side containing five debutants and which had an average age of 19 years, six months and three days.
Leicester, meanwhile, ended the hopes of Liverpool’s neighbours Everton. The Foxes looked to be cruising when two goals in four first half minutes gave them a two-goal lead at Goodison Park.
James Maddison clinically fired home a 26th-minute opener before Jonny Evans notched the second.
However, Duncan Ferguson’s Toffees dug deep in the second half to get back on terms.
Tom Davies pulled one back on 70 minutes before Leighton Baines hammered a spectacular shot into the top corner in stoppage time to equalise.
However, Leicester went on to triumph 4-2 in the resulting penalty shoot-out. Foxes keeper Kasper Schmeichel made two saves before Jamie Vardy tucked home the decisive spot-kick.