19 mins: Garnacho rattles the crossbar from an acute angle!
Surely he should have squared it? Fernandes and Hojlund were available for tap-ins in the six-yard box.
18 mins: United are in again down the left as Garnacho’s shot is deflected, but Antony wins it back to keep things alive. Newport are struggling to contain the United pace out wide.
15 mins: Something for Newport to cheer about – a corner. It’s whipped in from their right by Adam Lewis but Fernandes is there with the defensive header; then Casemiro tidies up.
14 mins: Rodney Parade is now very subdued. This wasn’t in the script, was it?
Kobbie Mainoo’s first senior goal!
And a lovely goal it is too, as United attack down the right through Dalot who picks out Mainoo to guide it into the far corner with his first touch. Composure doesn’t even cut it.
11 mins: Antony should have made it 2-0. Mainoo, Fernandes and Dalot all involved in a well-worked United sequence and Antony finds himself 15 yards out on his left foot, but curls it over.
10 mins: Newport need to play the percentages now and that’s exactly what they’re doing; a few long throws up towards Evans.
Dalot then runs into a blind alley when United thought they had a chance on the counter.
8 mins: That’s a nightmare for Newport. United’s first attack of the game and they score. There wasn’t much Nick Townsend could have done to stop Fernandes’s shot.
Slick from United and clinical from Bruno Fernandes!
Antony was played through on the left after Fernandes turned Shaw’s pass into the winger’s path. He then cuts it back to Fernandes who drills it emphatically into the bottom corner.
6 mins: Martínez and Shaw are seeing plenty of it as United choose to build up largely down their left flank. Newport are going a great job of closing up the middle of the park.
4 mins: It’s all a bit messy in midfield as Casemiro is penalised for a push in Charsley’s back. The Brazilian is back, everyone, and he’s back with a foul.
3 mins: Garnacho is outmuscled by Shane McLoughlin in the Newport right back position, before it’s switched to the United right, with Antony curling it towards – but beyond – the far post.
1 min: An early errant United pass is given the sarcastic cheer treatment from the Newport faithful. As is only right, of course.
Bayindir gets an early grab of the ball as a loose ball bounces his way.
Newport, in their usual black and amber kit, get us under way.
Manchester United are all in white.
Newport’s Will Evans is a terrifc story. From working on a farm while playing for Cardiff Met University and Bala Town in the Welsh Premier League, to turning professional at the age of 25 and quickly becoming League Two’s premier striker. How he’d love a goal today to burnish his reputation further.
The players are in the tunnel and we’re almost ready to go.
Tottenham, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Copenhagen, Newcastle, West Ham, Nottingham Forest … are Newport County about to join this list?
(It’s all the places Manchester United have been beaten at this season). Newport, for their part, have not lost at home since mid-November and that was in the EFL Trophy. The Exiles are on a seven-game unbeaten run under Graham Coughlan.
Astonishingly, Manchester United have not gone more than three games unbeaten at any stage this season. They’ve managed a run of three on two occasions – in October and December – and could match that by avoiding defeat today.
Avoiding defeat would be an absolute bare minimum, of course.
Confirmation of that draw, with the winner of this game to travel to either Bristol City or Nottingham Forest in the last 16. Meanwhile, Maidstone missed out on a glamour tie.
Here’s the United players arriving at their humble surroundings earlier. Probably, with respect, not the place Altay Bayindir dreamed of making his Manchester United debut.
Focused and ready for the #FACup ✔️#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 28, 2024
Some pre-match reading here, as Ben Fisher went behind the scenes at Newport County to check in on their preparations for this game.
The return of Lisandro Martínez, Luke Shaw and Casemiro from injury represents the best possible news for Manchester United fans following their side’s two-week break from action. The trio were all key cogs for Erik ten Hag last season, giving United a solid base from which their third place finish and run to two domestic cup finals was built. Without them, United have been rather more porous.
Casemiro’s comeback means Ten Hag can trial a midfield supporters have long been craving – alongside the promising Kobbie Mainoo and the integral Bruno Fernandes. In fact, bar Rashford and André Onana this could well be Ten Hag’s strongest lineup. It will be fascinating to see how Altay Bayindir fares on his United debut in goal.
Newport: Townsend, Clarke, Delaney, Lewis, McLoughlin, Bennett, Morris, Wildig, Charsley, Palmer-Houlden, Evans
Subs: Maxted, Payne, Zanzala, Waite, Rai, Wood, Jameson, Baker, Bondswell
Manchester United: Bayindir, Dalot, Varane, Martínez, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes, Antony, Garnacho, Højlund
Subs: Heaton, Maguire, Evans, Kambwala, McTominay, Eriksen, Pellistri, Amad, Forson
Before we get to the teams, the fifth round draw has now been completed and it looks like this:
Blackburn/Wrexham v Newcastle
Bournemouth v Leicester
Liverpool/Norwich v Watford/Southampton
Chelsea/Aton Villa v Leeds/Plymouth
Bristol City/Nottingham Forest v Newport County/Manchester United
Wolves v Brighton
Sheffield Wednesday/Coventry City v Maidstone United
Luton Town v Manchester City
Well, well, well, are your FA Cup upset antennae tingling? Are Newport County braced for a shock of ages, to follow in the footsteps of Maidstone United and into the fifth round with a healthy slice of cup folklore? Or will Manchester United actually produce a coherent and professional performance and put pay to such nonsense predictions?
Rodney Parade is the only place to be in Gwent this afternoon to find out, as the millionaires of Man United prepare for a cold Welsh welcome in what promises to be a classic FA Cup contest. The headlines: an early afternoon suggestion is that Marcus Rashford has missed the trip altogether due to illness, although Erik ten Hag could welcome back a number of his hitherto injured contingent. United had it fairly easy in the third round at third tier Wigan, so will be hopeful they can see off the fourth tier Exiles.
Kickoff is at 4.30pm (GMT) and the official team news will follow. Let’s do this.