Manchester United welcomed rivals Manchester City to Old Trafford on Wednesday as Juan Mata netted the crucial goal to secure the Red Devils victory.

The match got off to a fast start as City threatened early on, a Jesus Navas cross finding Kelechi Iheanacho in the box, only for the starlet to blaze over the bar.

It was the visitors who were dominating possession in the early stages before City youngster Aleix Garcia had a hopeful penalty appeal waved away after 10 minutes.

United had an effort from a set piece in the 18th minute of action, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s effort deflected wide for a corner, which ultimately came to nothing.

Chances proved hard to come by over the following minutes as Leroy Sane failed to find a teammate with a through ball before Ibrahimovic and Marcus Rashford missed chances in quick succession. At half-time, the score remained all square at 0-0.

The second period began with City looking to get at United right away but the move broke down as Iheanacho’s pass went awry. United then came desperately close to breaking the deadlock, with Paul Pogba striking the post following a flowing move.

The Red Devils’ pressure finally paid off in the 54th minute as Juan Mata fired home after being slipped in by Ibrahimovic. City looked to respond quickly to the setback, but could only muster a long range shot from Aleksandar Kolarov in the following minutes, whose effort flew over the bar.

Kolarov blazed a second effort over the bar a few minutes later as City began to press hard for an equalising goal, with substitute Raheem Sterling looking particularly dangerous.

United were content to play on the counter as the game entered its final 10 minutes, with Rashford having time to threaten with one last cross before being replaced by Jesse Lingard.

Ctiy were swarming United’s box late on but despite their best efforts they could not find a goal to level the scores. At full time it was United who secured progress to the next round of the EFL Cup courtesy of a 1-0 win.