Twelve-time FA Cup winners Manchester United gave up a two-goal lead before escaping Rodney Parade with a 4-2 victory over fourth-tier Welsh side Newport County.
Antony scored in the 68th-minute for last year’s FA Cup runners-up Manchester United after Newport — ranked 76 places below United in England‘s football pyramid — had clawed their way back from two goals down.
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“We controlled the game, maybe we went a little bit slower,” United manager Erik ten Hag told the BBC. “We had the chance to go 3-0. [Alejandro] Garnacho hit the crossbar. [Newport] had nothing, really nothing and then they scored a goal.”
Bruno Fernandes, 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo and Rasmus Hojlund also scored for United, who conceded two goals in an FA Cup match against a fourth-tier side for the first time since 1970 (against Northampton Town).
“Obviously it was not the result that we wanted, we got the win that we wanted but the result was not the perfect one for us. We didn’t want to concede goals,” United captain Fernandes said.
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“We know that to make the season look not as bad as it has been, we have to try to win this trophy … we know how much the FA Cup means for our fans, our club, for the country and it’s important for us too. We want to get into the final and win.”
Goals from Bryn Morris and Will Evans either side of halftime gave Newport real hope of earning a lucrative replay at Old Trafford, but ultimately the Premier League team’s firepower proved too much.
Newport manager Graham Coughlan told the BBC: “The best team won, they were clinical when they got their chances.
“At 2-2 the ball comes off the post and it fell to Antony. I did think at 2-2 we could possibly force a replay if we could weather the storm. Class saw them through.”
United face either Bristol City or Nottingham Forest in the fifth round, depending on who wins their replay on Feb. 7.
