Manchester United 1-0 West Ham United (aet): The midfielder came off the bench to break the deadlock
Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay celebrates his goal
It was hard work – a hard watch at times, too – and went on for half an hour longer than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, David Moyes or even much of the terrestrial television audience would have liked, but Scott McTominay’s extra time breakthrough eventually saw Manchester United progress past West Ham and advance to the FA Cup quarter finals.
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David Moyes’ wait for his first win at Old Trafford as a visiting manager goes on and rarely looked like it would end here in any case, with fatigued West Ham playing well below the level that they have shown in their impressive Premier League campaign. Not that United were any better, though.
Solskjaer’s side were equally toothless for 97 minutes until McTominay mercifully pounced on Marcus Rashford’s cute lay-off to finally break the tedium. By that point, his manager had already thrown Bruno Fernandes, Edinson Cavani and any other regular due a rest in search of a winner.
That is not ideal, given the demands of this most congested of schedules, but Solskjaer has always taken the domestic cup competitions seriously and this year will see United’s third successive quarter-final appearance under his management. West Ham can concentrate on their quest for European qualification through the league.
Moyes’ plans were dealt an early blow with an injury to Angelo Ogbonna, whose ankle was the meat in a nasty sandwich between Anthony Martial’s boot and Lukasz Fabianski’s thigh while blocking one early attempt.
Manchester United vs West Ham: Five things we learned as Red Devils earn extra time FA Cup win
West Ham were already without Michail Antonio, who was left out of the matchday squad, and without that usual out-ball which has proved so successful this season, United dominated.
