Manchester United overcame a massive scare against Rochdale, winning a Carabao Cup penalty shootout 5-3 after being held to a 1-1 draw in normal time at Old Trafford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had wasted a number of chances before Mason Greenwood (68) scored his second senior goal with a thunderous effort. But Rochdale got themselves back into the third-round tie not long after as 16-year-old Luke Matheson (75) levelled for the visitors to ultimately send the game to penalties.

It was a professional shoot-out from United – who scored all of their spot-kicks – while a miss from midfielder Jimmy Keohane saw Rochdale agonisingly exit the competition. United will now travel to Chelsea in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

How Man Utd edged into the fourth round

United dominated the first half but squandered a number of chances. They were also kept out by some marvellous saves from Rochdale goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, with his first two stops coming in the 19th minute. He leapt to deny Tahith Chong before a fierce shot from Andreas Pereira landed in his arms. He was at it again seven minutes later as he kept a header out from Jesse Lingard, before Marcos Rojo nodded wide from a Pereira corner.

United’s best chance of the opening period came in the 35th minute when the returning Paul Pogba wasted a glorious chance. Greenwood floated a lovely pass in for the Frenchman, who ran forward to meet it, but, with the goal at his mercy, he frustratingly directed his header over the crossbar from six yards out.

Greenwood could have snatched a goal five minutes later but, after a wonderful drive into the area, his well-taken strike was kept out by another super Sanchez stop. Not long after, Lingard directed a header wide of the post once again as United endured a frustrating first half.

It was Rochdale who had a sensational chance early in the second half. Former Man Utd academy product Oliver Rathbone danced towards the near post before cutting the ball back to Callum Camps inside a now-packed area. However, his shot was hacked off the line by a bicycle kick from Aaron Wan-Bissaka in a wonderful bit of defending.

United finally made a deserved breakthrough in the 68th minute with a rocket from Greenwood. The hosts played the ball well around the area before Lingard slipped the 17-year-old in down the right of the box. He nipped away from Rhys Norrington-Davies before hammering a shot into the back of the net for his second senior goal.

But seven minutes later, Rochdale got themselves level. Rathbone collected a long pass on the left, controlling it under pressure from Wan-Bissaka before looping a shot into the air. It did not look like it would trouble United, until Matheson came storming in to flick the ball home through a packed six-yard box before celebrating rapturously.

United continued to push for the winner, but were unable to make the breakthrough as the tie went to a penalty shoot-out. The hosts went first and scored each of their penalties, but a miss from Keohane, who saw Rochdale’s second kick saved by Sergio Romero, ultimately sealed their exit from the competition.

Man of the match – Mason Greenwood

It was another impressive performance from Greenwood up front as he continues to show flashes of what he can bring to Manchester United. While he did miss a few chances, he took his goal with real maturity and it was a superb strike that beat a confident goalkeeper. He also scored a cool penalty in the shootout, not showing any flash of the pressure he may have been under, and he should be pleased with his overall performance.

While it was not the most complete performance from Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was impressed with 17-year-old Greenwood as well as their opponents Rochdale. He said: “Penalty shoot-outs can go either way. I thought Rochdale were fantastic, we studied and analysed them and they’re a bit unorthodox, but they’re confident and the way they set their team up, it was great tonight to watch them. “We’re through, so we’re happy with that and that’s one plus. The second is the fans, they were unbelievable again and the third were our penalties. They were composed and the boys enjoyed taking them.

“You always want some quality in the last third and we lacked that at times. They defended well, of course we should have scored quite a few goals, but we’ve spoken about it many times that when you don’t take your chances, it’s going to be a hard night but we’ve got Mason who knows where the goal is. “He scored a good goal today as well and he’s a confident finisher but you’ve got to remember, he’s 18 next week so give him time and he’ll be a very good player.”

Rochdale manager Bryan Barry-Murphy was pleased with how his side performed at Old Trafford in what he called the “experience of a lifetime”. He said: “I think it was a very successful day for us. If we’re trying to be perfectionists, you’d say we’d want to win the tie and go through and not celebrate being knocked out of the competition but our lads gave absolutely everything in this competition right from the start. “For the guys on the pitch and on the sides, it was the experience of a lifetime and one they’ll hope to repeat as they progress through their careers.”

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