Manchester United 4 Wigan 0: Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marouane Fellaini, Chris Smalling and Henrikh Mkhitaryan earn FA Cup victory

BASTIAN SCHWEINSTEIGER scored on his first start for over a year as Manchester United cruised into the FA Cup fifth round with a 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic.

Marouane Fellaini and Chris Smalling netted headers either side of half time to put the Red Devils into the driving seat, and then late strikes from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and the German completed a convincing win.

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Warren Joyce, who left his job as United's Under-23s boss to take charge at Wigan two months ago, must have thought his side had completed half the job as it remained goalless as the clock ticked into the 44th minute.

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But outcasted midfielder Schweinsteiger swung in a cross from the right for Fellaini to head home in the dying seconds of the half to break the deadlock.

And 12 minutes after the restart England defender Smalling rose highest to head home Anthony Martial's cross.

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It really was game over when the third arrived with just over quarter of an hour remaining.

Jose Mourinho's side launched a rapid counter-attack that led to Mkhitaryan finishing from close-range after another Martial assist.

And then Schweinsteiger's moment arrived with ten to go as the German World Cup winning-captain acrobatically finished from six yards to round off the scoring.

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FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS

• This was Bastian Schweinsteiger’s first start since January 9th last year.

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• Forgotten man Luke Shaw was also back but his long term future at the club is in doubt with Jose Mourinho not a fan.
• Marouane Fellaini is becoming something of a Cup specialist having scored the crucial second in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final against Hull and again in this game.
  

  

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• It was another header this time as he muscled Callum Connolly out the way.
• The big Belgian’s goal just before the break was tough on Wigan who could claim to have edged the first half.
• This was a return to his old club for Wigan boss Warren Joyce who had spent eight years mentoring the youth and reserve players.
• Joyce is clearly immune to the weather for as everyone else shivered in Old Trafford he sported shorts.
• Anthony Martial started with a warning that it was time to impress the manager. He did nothing first half and was moved from upfront to out wide but did provide the cross for Chris Smalling’s headed second goal.
  

  

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• Wayne Rooney received a commemorative golden boot before kick off presented by Sir Bobby Charlton whose all-time United goalscoring record he had broken the previous weekend with his free kick against Stoke.
• Second half substitute Axel Tuanzebe is United’s reserve team captain and has recently been included in first team training. This was his debut as he came on for Tim Fosu-Mensah.

THE BIG PICTURE

DREAM TEAM RATINGS

Manchester United: Romero 7 (Castro Pereira 81, 6), Fosu-Mensah 7 (Tuanzebe 68, 6), Smalling 8, Rojo 7, Shaw 7, Fellaini 7 (Herrera 70, 7), Schweinsteiger 8, Mata 7, Rooney 7, Mkhitaryan 8, Martial 8

Subs not used: Ibrahimovic, Blind, Young, Rashford

Goals: Fellaini (44), Smalling (57), Mkhitaryan (74), Schweinsteiger (81)

Wigan: Haugaard 4, Connolly 6, Buxton 5, Burn 6, Warnock 6, MacDonald 5 (Browne 76, 6), Perkins 6 (Wildschut 59, 5), Power 6, Morsy 6, Jacobs 6, Grigg 5 (Tunnicliffe 71, 5)

Subs not used: James, Kellett, Morgan, Jaaskelainen

THEY SAID

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, speaking to BBC Sport: "We deserved to win. The first half wasn't very good but we managed to lead 1-0 when we needed to play better. We knew they would be organised and play with aggression, would be very compact, and to break that down we needed to change a few things.

"The second half was much better. We deserved to win, the job is done and we are in the last 16.Overall I am happy with what we did. Some players more than others, but that is football."

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling: "We knew that Wigan would be a hard team to beat, a lot of top teams have gone out so it's good to still be in the cup.

";We have a lot of competition in the squad, we have not got many injuries but now everyone wants to stay in the team for Wednesday."

Manchester United attacker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, speaking to Match of the Day: "It feels good. It was not our best game in the first half but in the second we were very good."