As Manchester United secured their place in the FA Cup fourth round with a slim 1-0 victory over Watford on Saturday, Scott McTominay scored the only goal of the night.
McTominay was the only one of two survivors from Wednesday’s EFL Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City but after just five minutes the midfielder, captaining the Red Devils for the first time, led his side in front.
Prior to the interval, Eric Bailly and Juan Mata squandered good opportunities to extend United’s advantage, although Dean Henderson had to be alert to thwart Adam Masina.
During a miserable second half, United barely threatened a second, but they saw it out with the minimum of hassle to inflict a 10th straight loss on Old Trafford for the Hornets.
The hosts wasted little time stamping their influence on the draw, McTominay going home from the outswing corner of Alex Telles in the fifth minute for his fourth goal of the season.
Soon after, United goalkeeper Henderson was out quickly to deny Masina, while Bailly flashed a header high into the penalty area from another risky Telles ball.
After a superb flicked pass from Donny van de Beek, Mata fired straight at Daniel Bachmann as United eventually struggled to add to their advantage before half-time.
In a desperate attempt to inject some life into the stuttering assault of the home team, Solskjaer brought on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial with just over 20 minutes left.
Rashford was expected to put a seal on the victory, but his low effort was too close to Bachmann after a fine sprint.