Manchester United 3-0 Ipswich Town match report - United cruise into fourth round

Manchester United are through into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup, having seen off Championship opponents Ipswich Town 3-0 at Old Trafford on Tuesday. It was a comfortable win for Louis van Gaal's side, with goals coming from Wayne Rooney, Andreas Pereira and Anthony Martial.

It was Pereira's first start for United, and he was obviously desperate to make his mark. He cracked the post from an offside position in the first few minutes before angling couple of long-range drives towards goal, though neither tested Ipswich goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski. United dominated possession and penned the visitors in, but struggled for a final pass against an organised defensive unit.

When the breakthrough came midway through the first period, it was rather more direct than the umpteen-pass moves of Louis van Gaal's dreams. A smart chip by Daley Blind sent Wayne Rooney through, and after shrugging off centre-back Piotr Malarczyk with a strength we haven't seen for quite some time, he buried the ball in the back of the net. Perhaps Rooney's found his level.

United continued in the ascendancy for the remainder of the opening half, with Ipswich offering very little in attack. Their only sight of goal came seconds before the halftime whistle, though Tommy Oar's optimistic effort whistled comfortably wide of David de Gea's goalposts.

Ipswich offered their biggest resistance early in the second half, when they began to play a little more ambitiously without possession. On a couple of occasions they won the ball high and swung dangerous crosses into the penalty area, though United escaped unscathed.

After weathering the brief storm, all was left for United to do was secure their lead with a second. Pereira did the honours in his first start for United, curling a brilliant free-kick inside the top corner with half an hour left on the clock.

From there it was plain sailing, with United in complete control. However, it took until stoppage time at the end of the match for them to score a third. It came when substitute Anthony Martial snatched the ball from the feet of Memphis Depay, surging through on goal and slotting home. It capped a very comfortable victory for United, quite unlike the humiliation suffered at the hands of MK Dons this time last year.