Kobbie Mainoo produced another accomplished performance as Manchester United booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round with a 2-0 win away to Wigan Athletic.
And fellow young team-mate Alejandro Garnacho made a point of singling the academy graduate out for praise afterwards. Mainoo, 18, has now made a dozen first-team appearances under Erik ten Hag and Garnacho published a story on Instagram that carried a simple message via the medium of emoji.
Accompanying a picture of them both applauding supporters at full-time, the Argentinean tagged Mainoo with star and boy emojis - a nod to the moniker now bestowed upon several breakthrough talents, including Arsenal ’s Bukayo Saka.
Ten Hag has previously said Mainoo’s age does not matter once he is capable of producing the goods in games. "If you are good enough, you are old enough and he proved that,” Ten Hag said last month. “When he gets used more often to those games, we will get even more joy from it. Because then his scanning and his speed of action, he can get such passes, three or four passes in and get switches in, and he is the player who can really hurt opponents."
In total, eight players - including veteran Jonny Evans - from United’s academy appeared on the DW Stadium pitch. But Ten Hag admitted United should have scored more goals but it was the result that mattered most. Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes struck either side of half time to ensure no upset against the League One side.
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"The FA Cup is all about winning. It’s a knockout. If you have to replay [the tie], it’s two games, but you want to finish the job and that’s exactly the words I used in the dressing room: ‘Job done’,” Ten Hag said.
"We created in the first half five or six very good chances. It was, I think, good football and we should have taken more from that, but if you don’t score, you have to stay focused and I think that is also what we did."
Alejandro Garnacho's post in praise of Kobbie Mainoo. (instagram.com/garnacho7)
Kobbie Mainoo in action for Manchester United at Wigan.And while United will be massive favourites to beat either Newport County or non-League Eastleigh to secure their place in the fifth round, Ten Hag said it is far too early to be dreaming of lifting another trophy at Wembley.
He added: "I think that is too far [away], you have to go from game to game, especially in the cup. So we take that, but now, first, all our focus is on Spurs [in the Premier League ], of course."
United’s injury list remains lengthy but Christian Eriksen, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire are in contention to return for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham.
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