It was an intriguing encounter at Deepdale between Preston and Man United, Preston looking to cause a major upset and Manchester United looking to push towards their only realistic chance of silverware this season.
The first half was a cagey start, Preston typically showing their physical presence and United knew they were in a game at the end of the 45 minutes. Given all the money invested in the United side, they struggled to break the League One side down, Radamel Falcao in particular struggling to find any space to make any impact.
At the start of the second half, Preston came flying out of the blocks and they punished the away side, Scott Laird latching onto Joe Garners pass to hit a deflected strike past David De Gea, who probably could have done more to stop the strike.
The goal for Preston seemed to spark United unto life, and on the hour mark when Louis Van Gaal brought on Ashley Young for Falcao, giving them more width which made the difference in the game, Young getting down the right hand side, cutting back to Ander Herrera, who held off challenges off from the Preston defence to squeeze his shot in off the post.
There will be a lot of debate about the interference of Wayne Rooney, who was in an offside position but debatable as to whether he interfered with play.
United didnt stop there, Antonio Valencia stood a ball up to the back post, Marouaine Fellaini headed towards goal, Thorsten Stuckmann parried the ball back to the Belgian who fired into the top corner.
Wayne Rooney then won and converted a contentious penalty to make it 3-1 to send United through to the next round to what should be an excellent tie at home to Arsenal, of which the winner will more than likely become the favourite to win the competition.
Overall, Louis Van Gaal will be pleased with the character his team showed but the performance was still a long way short of what United fans are used to. Preston will be pleased with how far they pushed United and should push them towards promotion to the Championship.