Manchester United 1-0 West Ham United
Written by Ciaran Coyle.
Embed from Getty ImagesAn extra-time strike from Scott McTominay sends Manchester United through to the quarter-final of the FA Cup in a dull encounter at Old Trafford.
The winner came in the seventh minute of extra-time as United attacked down the left-hand side with Fred whose cross found Marcus Rashford who poked it into the path of McTominay who finished well past Łukasz Fabiański.
The home side had most of the first-half possession but failed to create many clear cut opportunities. The best chance of the half came 25 minutes into the game as Victor Lindelof’s deflected header was clawed onto the post by the West Ham keeper, who was one of the visitors’ best performers on the night.
The second half started with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side on the front foot but with the potent attacking threat still missing. Rashford had a chance midway through the half as the United number 10 was found by a looping ball into the box by Mason Greenwood, but his touch allowed Fabiański to smother the shot and deflect it for a corner.
West Ham’s biggest chance in the game and only shot on target came with five minutes of extra time left to play as substitute Ben Johnson crossed into the 18-yard area towards Saïd Benrahma who had his header caught comfortably by Dean Henderson in the United goal.
In the end, it wasn’t a vintage performance from the home side but Solskjaer’s men will be relieved to make it through to the FA Cup quarter-finals, with their hopes of claiming some silverware this season still intact.
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Sub-edited by Cameron Winstanley.
