Mata winner sends Man Utd through

By Gary Rose

Juan Mata's superb second-half goal sent Manchester United into the FA Cup fourth round as they beat Wolves. 

The Spanish midfielder chipped over keeper John Ruddy to settle the third-round replay after being put through on goal by Anthony Martial.

Wolves had an early Pedro Neto strike ruled out by the video assistant referee for a handball in the build-up.

But it was a deserved win for the hosts, who had the better chances in a tight game at Old Trafford.

Manchester United will next travel to either Watford or Tranmere - whose third-round replay at Prenton Park on Tuesday was postponed because of heavy rain.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side did not manage a shot on target in the goalless first game between the two sides at Molineux on 4 January but were much more threatening in this match.

An excellent save by Ruddy prevented Mata from opening the scoring in the first half, while Daniel James was also denied by the Wolves keeper. 

After a high-tempo start, the game settled down - but Mata, 31, produced the one moment of quality to seal victory, rolling back the years with a clever finish.

Mata's dinked finish gives Man Utd FA Cup win over Wolves

Man Utd get job done but at a potential cost

It is a tough period for many clubs in the Premier League with games in multiple competitions coming thick and fast. With his side facing a tough trip to league leaders Liverpool on Sunday, Solskjaer may have been forgiven for making numerous changes for this tie.

But the FA Cup and Europa League arguably represent Manchester United's most realistic routes to trophies this season and Solskjaer underlined how seriously he is taking this competition by naming a strong line-up on Wednesday.

There were just three changes from the side that beat Norwich 4-0 in the Premier League last Saturday, as Sergio Romero was named in goal, while James and Mason Greenwood also started.

Wolves, too, went strong with their line-up, with Ruddy their only change and the two sides, cancelled each other for large periods. 

Eager to get the job done and wrap up the game inside 90 minutes, Solskjaer sent on top scorer Marcus Rashford in the 64th minute to add bite to his attack and, three minutes later, United were ahead.

But the gamble to involve Rashford may prove costly; the striker pulled up with an injury and had to be replaced by Jesse Lingard just 16 minutes after coming on. 

After the game, Solskjaer admitted the decision to play Rashford was one that backfired.

'You can't celebrate' - Coady furious with disallowed goal

VAR has certainly had its critics this season - but for the second time in five days, it was new regulations relating to handball that caused controversy as the video official stepped in to rule out a goal.

The law regarding handball, updated before the start of this season, states any goal scored or created with the use of the hand or arm will be disallowed "even if it is accidental".

West Ham and Declan Rice fell victim to it last Friday when the midfielder's injury-time equaliser against Sheffield United was ruled out because the ball had touched his arm in the build-up.

This time, the handball rule was applied early on at Old Trafford when VAR spotted that the ball had brushed Raul Jimenez's hand just before Neto fired home early on.

It was a let-off for Manchester United and spared Fred's blushes with the strike having come as a result of a wild pass by the midfielder that deflected off a team-mate and into Jimenez's path.

It also seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game as Manchester United grew in confidence after a strong start by Wolves, who struggled to get Adama Traore involved as much as they would have hoped.

After the game, Wolves captain Conor Coady said: "It's constant, all we are talking about is VAR. It's ridiculous, it's stupid.

"You can't celebrate. Raul Jimenez didn't even know he had handballed it. We have to get used to it.

"All of it is terrible for me. It's not for me, it's not for a lot of players. But people higher up in the game are happy with it."

This article originally appeared in BBC Sport