Manchester United secured an Emirates FA Cup fourth-round tie at either Newport County or Eastleigh, by recording a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.

Diogo Dalot curled home midway through the first half as United dominated most of the play, with Rasmus Hojlund, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford all going close and Alejandro Garnacho striking the crossbar.

The home side had goalkeeper Sam Tickle to thank for keeping them in the game for large periods, but the Latics’ no.1 could not prevent Bruno Fernandes from doubling the scoreline with a penalty he’d won himself, 15 minutes from time.

Erik ten Hag’s men, who were cheered on by 7,500 travelling Reds on a freezing Monday, can look ahead to another visit to a side in a lower English league at the end of the month, with the Eastleigh v Newport replay to be settled first on Tuesday 16 January.

The opening 20 minutes had almost exclusively been played in front of Wigan’s entrenched defence and midfield, but the Reds started cutting through the lines, with McTominay turning an effort just wide of the post following a sweeping team move that involved Kobbie Mainoo, Fernandes and Hojlund.