Erik ten Hag tackled huge test and Manchester United have passed with flying colours

If you had told any Manchester United supporter at the start of the season that the club would reach the final international break of the campaign and be in with a chance of winning a famous treble, you can guarantee they would have laughed at you.

United, despite the appointment of Erik ten Hag generating fresh optimism, entered this season still scarred from the horrors of a forgettable 2021/22 campaign. The club finished sixth in the Premier League last season, bowed out of the FA Cup to lower-league opposition and suffered a series of other embarrassing results.

After losing their opening two matches of this campaign, including the 4-0 hammering at Brentford, United found themselves bottom of the Premier League table. All of the optimism that had been generated by Ten Hag's appointment and a cluster of new signings had been sucked back out again.

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However, even though United have suffered one or two further embarrassments along the way, that defeat at Brentford now feels like a lifetime ago. The Reds signed off for the final international break of the season on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 win over Fulham, booking their second Wembley visit of the campaign by securing their place in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Their reward for beating the Cottagers is a last-four showdown with Premier League counterparts Brighton & Hove Albion next month. Although the Seagulls are not a side to be underestimated, United will fancy their chances of booking their place in a second domestic cup final of the season, following their Carabao Cup triumph over Newcastle United last month.

The victory over Newcastle, of course, marked United's first trophy of the Ten Hag era and