United do just enough as Newport provide magic

This was a bumpy ride for Erik ten Hag and long after the Manchester United manager negotiated more questions about Marcus Rashford's apparent indiscipline.

- Ben Fisher

Rashford was conspicuous by his absence, not in the squad that flew into Cardiff because, Ten Hag said, of an internal matter, days after the forward reported ill for training, hours after allegedly being pictured in a Belfast nightclub.

On the pitch, a United side assembled at a cost of more than £400m avoided an almighty scare at a gusty and defiant Newport County, a team 76 places below them in the pyramid made up of largely waifs and strays.

Newport trailed 2-0 inside 13 minutes, Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo applying killer finishes to almost identical moves, but Newport stirred to ensure an enthralling encounter. Until Bryn Morris's long-distance strike deflected in off Lisandro Martínez on 36 minutes, it seemed this tie would be something of an anticlimax, after all. Newport ensured anything but.

The last time they came from two goals down to take something? Boxing Day, against a club facing relegation to non-league, Forest Green Rovers, and not arguably the most storied club in the world, 12-time winners of this competition. Newport's manager, Graham Coughlan, a United fanatic who attended a few of those finals, reminded his players of their

fighting spirit at the interval. "We gave ourselves a little glimmer of hope," Coughlan said afterwards.

That optimism was well placed.

Two minutes into the second half, this rickety stadium went ballistic.