Manchester United crushed Barnsley 7-0 as troubled winger Antony scored his first goal this season and Marcus Rashford struck twice to extend his revival in the League Cup third round on Tuesday.
While United ran riot, Fulham made unwanted history as the Premier League club were beaten by second-tier Preston 16-15 on penalties after the tournament's longest ever shoot-out.
Languishing in 10th place in the Premier League after two defeats in their first four games, United were never in danger of an upset against their third-tier opponents at Old Trafford.
Rashford, Antony and Alejandro Garnacho all netted before half-time to effectively seal United's second successive victory after Saturday's Premier League win at Southampton.
Clinical Rashford 🔥#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 17, 2024
Rashford and Garnacho each scored again after the interval and Christian Eriksen's double wrapped up United's biggest win since boss Erik ten Hag arrived from Ajax in 2022.
"It is the first time this team is playing together. Once we found our patterns we scored some great goals," Ten Hag said.
"We played with a lot of speed and were ruthless. The key was the right attitude and to be 100 percent concentrated.
"Last season was for everyone difficult, but we ended with the FA Cup. We hit our target and that is what we aim for this season, we want to progress."
Despite promising to take the League Cup "very seriously", Ten Hag made eight changes, with Manuel Ugarte handed his first start after the midfielder's arrival from Paris Saint-Germain.
Ten Hag's raft of switches were no hindrance for United as they made a flying start to their bid to win the tournament for the second time in three seasons.
Building momentum 📈#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 17, 2024
The Dutchman had described Rashford as being like a bottle of tomato ketchup after he scored his first goal of the season at Southampton last weekend.
Having rarely scored during a difficult campaign last season, Ten Hag claimed Rashford would enjoy a spurt of success after breaking his duck.
His prediction looked spot on in the 16th minute as Garnacho's raking pass picked out Rashford and he cut inside Marc Roberts before firing high past Barnsley keeper Gaga Slonina into the top corner.
It was the first time the 26-year-old had scored in successive games since March.
Antony was making his first start this season and the out-of-favour Brazilian international converted a 35th-minute penalty after being fouled by Slonina as he ran through on goal.
Everton crash again
Garnacho stabbed in United's third goal from close range in first-half stoppage time.
Garnacho netted again in the 49th minute, sprinting onto Eriksen's pass and slotting home.
Rashford bagged his brace in the 58th minute, taking Garnacho's pass and finishing with aplomb.
With Barnsley utterly outclassed, Eriksen steered in two clinical finishes in the 81st and 85th minutes.
At Deepdale, it took 34 penalties in total before Preston beat Fulham after their 1-1 draw.
At 15-15 in the shootout after a miss from each team, Fulham's Timothy Castagne blazed over and Preston's Ryan Ledson calmly netted the winner.
The previous League Cup shoot-out record was set in 2016 when Derby beat Carlisle 14-13.
Everton's wretched start to the season showed no signs of abating after Southampton won 6-5 on penalties following a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
Sean Dyche's side, bottom of the Premier League after four consecutive defeats, took the lead through Abdoulaye Doucoure's 20th-minute header.
But Taylor Harwood-Bellis equalised before half-time and Alex McCarthy saved Ashley Young's penalty in the shoot-out to win it for Southampton, who have also lost all four league games this term.
Crystal Palace's England winger Eberechi Eze scored in a 2-1 victory at his former club QPR.
Brentford survived an early scare against third-tier Leyton Orient before Fabio Carvalho's first goal for the club inspired a 3-1 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.
AFP