Solskjaer records eight straight wins as Man United beat Arsenal 3-1

Manchester United are on to the fifth round of the FA Cup after beating Arsenal 3-1 in an entertaining affair at the Emirates last night, reports espn.co.uk.

Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku, who have been used in substitute role by new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, returned to the starting lineup with both sides fielding strong XIs for this marquee fourth-round tie.

The game opened up after the 20-minute mark with both sides fashioning quality chances, Alex Iwobi firing right at Sergio Romero and Paul Pogba just missing the chance to poke in a Jesse Lingard cross at the other end.

The visitors then broke the deadlock just after the 30-minute mark, Lukaku playing in Sanchez, who rounded Petr Cech before firing home, and then setting up Lingard for an easy finish on the counter-attack.

Arsenal struck back before half-time, though, when an Aaron Ramsey cross found its way to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at the back post for the easiest of finishes to make it 2-1 at the break.

The end-to-end match resumed after half-time — with Arsenal having the better of the chances — but the action was put on hold just before the hour mark when Lukaku inadvertently stepped on Laurent Koscielny’s head, forcing the Frenchman off after about a five-minute delay.

Iwobi was withdrawn alongside Koscielny with Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi coming on as play resumed and shortly after Solskjaer brought on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial for Lukaku and Sanchez.

And the substitutes paid off for Solskjaer, who oversaw his eighth win in eight tries as United manager, as Cech spilled a rebound from a Pogba shot right into the path of Martial for a first-time finish to put the match away.

United will now await the results of the remaining FA Cup matches over the weekend to find out who they will face in the fifth round.