Angel di Maria of Manchester United celebrates scoring their second goal against Yeovil during their FA Cup third round soccer match at Huish Park, Yeovil, western England, January 4, 2015.
Angel di Maria of Manchester United celebrates scoring their second goal against Yeovil during their FA Cup third round soccer match at Huish Park, Yeovil, western England, January 4, 2015. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Manchester United came through a very physical battle in their first match at the FA Cup winning it 0-2 against Yeovil Town FC, a team struggling to stay at the League One. Manchester United were earlier knocked out in their first match of the League Cup away to League One side MK Dons.

Louis van Gaal is taking the FA Cup very seriously and that was evident in the fact that he put out a very strong team lead by Wayne Rooney and had superstars like Radamel Falcao. The Manchester United bench was pretty strong as well with a lot of experience in Angel Di Maria, Juan Mata as well as Anderson.

The first half was disappointing for the Red Devils as they failed to make any sort of impressions on their opponents. To add to their struggles the two wingbacks Luke Shaw and Rafael Da Silva injured themselves in the half but to their credit limped on till the half time whistle. Luke Shaw was unable to continue any further because of an ankle problem while Rafael suffered a fractured cheekbone. Incidentally the other two wing backs of the club, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia are also out because of hamstring and groin problems respectively.

After the break the manager introduced Angel Di Maria and Juan Mata and that helped them create more chances. Ander Herrera opened the scoring in the 64th minute while Di Maria doubled it in the 90th minute.

The manager was pleased with the team's performance and has earmarked the FA Cup as the quickest way to win a trophy. "I have been told by my assistant manager that Man United for over 10 years have not won the FA Cup, so maybe we can do that this year", he told reporters after the match.

With the busy Christmas fixtures out of the way the club will look forward to a very important Barclays Premier League fixture against Southampton at home, a club that are just one point behind them on the league table.

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