Thursday, 14 April 2016

West Ham 1-2 Manchester United

Manchester United will face Everton in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley after showing class and then character to beat West Ham United.
In the final FA Cup game at Upton Park before the Hammers move to the Olympic Stadium, visiting manager Louis van Gaal once again engineered a result when he needed it most.
Marcus Rashford gave Van Gaal's men the lead in this quarter-final replay after 54 minutes, the 18-year-old collecting a pass from Anthony Martial before curling a magnificent finish into the top corner past West Ham keeper Darren Randolph.
And when Marouane Fellaini bundled in Martial's cross 13 minutes later it looked all over - only for West Ham to mount a fierce siege in the closing minutes.
Relive Man Utd's win over West Ham
FA Cup more important to Man Utd than me - Van Gaal
Visiting keeper David de Gea, who gave a virtuoso display, had already saved superbly from Michail Antonio when James Tomkins stooped bravely among flying footwear to head in and give West Ham hope with 11 minutes left.
The hosts finally hammered at Manchester United's defence with De Gea saving once more from Andy Carroll and Cheikhou Kouyate, the latter ruled narrowly offside as he headed in a rebound.
With Wayne Rooney coming on for the final four minutes in his first appearance in two months after a knee injury, it ended as a very satisfactory night for Van Gaal and his side
Manchester United's young guns lead the wayAnd in defence, Timothy Fosu-Mensah showed tremendous maturity, a tower of strength when the Red Devils needed him most. He was powerful in the air and in the tackle.
Manchester United have had their difficulties, but in these two 18-year-olds and Martial they have talent they can build around.
Danny Mills - take Rashford to Euro 2016

West Ham suffer stage fright

There has been a feeling around the Boleyn Ground that West Ham's name was on the FA Cup this season as they pursued silverware in their last season at the stadium.
Maybe there was a touch of complacency in feeling they had done the hard part with the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford - or perhaps nerves that the dream might be coming close to reality.
Whatever the reason, it was not until the last 15 minutes that they actually started playing to their strengths, using Carroll and bombarding their opponents.
Even then, with the visitors on the rack, their decision-making was poor on a night that will be a bitter disappointment to manager Slaven Bilic, his players and everyone at the club.
In the closing moments, with Carroll winning everything in the air, they tried an elaborate corner routine that ended with captain Mark Noble shooting yards off target.
The last hope had gone, as had their chances of winning the FA Cup. The subdued reaction from the home fans told the story.


No comments: