Manchester United required late goals from Edinson Cavani and Anthony Martial to overcome Everton with a 2-0 win in the Carabao Cup quarter-final.
United reached the semi-finals of three different competitions last season, and they made it to the last four of the first possible one with a narrow win at Goodison Park.
The first half saw Everton withstand some pressure from United, although there were not many major chances.
Everton goalkeeper Robin Olsen had a couple of shaky moments in the opening stages.
He wasn’t troubled, though, when Mason Greenwood glanced a header wide in a decent chance.
At the other end, Everton were struggling to get the ball to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Instead, they had to rely on set pieces for chances, with Gylfi Sigurdsson seeing a free kick saved, for example.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with few clearcut opportunities.
However, as the prospect of penalties loomed, Cavani got a crucial goal.
After being fed the ball by Martial, the Uruguayan striker fired a left-footed finish home across Olsen’s dive. It was his first goal in the competition on his first appearance in it.
Stoppage time was frantic and end-to-end as Everton pushed for an equaliser and United tried to punish them on the counter attack.
As the clock ticked down, Marcus Rashford slid in fellow substitute Martial for a neat finish to double the lead with the last kick of the game.
United have still not conceded in the competition this season. They consequently book their place in the semi-finals alongside Manchester City, Tottenham and Brentford.
