Manchester United have placed one foot in the EFL Cup final by beating Hull City in the semi-final first leg.

Jose Mourinho's Red Devils made it nine wins in a row in all competitions courtesy of a 2-0 victory over the Tigers at Old Trafford.

United dominated possession and shot count stats in the first half but Hull were able to defend stoutly, while creating decent chances at the other end, namely when Adama Diomande hit the upright with a controlled header.

Their resistance, however, was futile when United took the lead on 56 minutes through Juan Mata. The Spaniard was on hand to volley home a clever header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan from close range, although he may have been offside when the Armenian made contact with his head.

Nevertheless, the goal stood and United had taken a deserved lead which heaped more pressure on Marco Silva's Tigers, who had lost striker Markus Henriksen to a shoulder injury inside 20 minutes.

The visitors toiled bravely as the minutes ticked on but it was to no avail as United made it 2-0 in the 87th minute through substitute Marouane Fellaini.

The Belgian midfielder held off the aerial challenge of Andrew Robertson to nod home Matteo Darmian's cross to change the complexion of the two-legged tie with United now taking a two-goal lead into the second leg at the KCOM Stadium in a fortnight.

Wednesday night sees United's north-west rivals Liverpool take on Southampton at St Mary's in the first leg of the other semi-final.

2016/17 EFL Cup - semi-final 1st leg

Manchester United: 2 (Juan Mata 56', Marouane Fellaini 87')
Hull City: 0
Old Trafford, Manchester - 65,798