An extra-time goal by substitute Scott Mc Tominay powered Manchester United to a 1-0 victory over West Ham United in the FA fifth round. As a result, – By John Mutiso.
United have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals for the seventh straight season. Notably, both the sides missed quite a few chances in normal time at Old Trafford.
Scott Mc Tominay scored in the extra time to send the Red Devils into the quarter finals.
Fernandes, inevitably, had a part to play in the goal, emphatically dispatched by the maturing Scott McTominay, that broke West Ham’s resistance in the seventh minute of extra time on a bitterly cold night at Old Trafford.
David Moyes had hoped to get one over the club that sacked him after 10 months as manager but a frustrating night for the West Ham manager was also a costly one.
He lost three players to injury, including centre-half Angelo Ogbonna and his replacement, Issa Diop, with a possible concussion, and felt his team should have been awarded a penalty in the second minute of stoppage time for handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka after Craig Dawson had missed a good chance to score a dramatic winner from a corner.
The defensive injuries had forced Moyes to switch to a back three and introduce Ryan Fredericks and Ben Johnson from the bench as wing-backs and the change actually improved West Ham, giving them more pace and attacking impetus at the same time as United became increasingly disjointed.
Perhaps if Moyes had been able to call upon Michail Antonio, West Ham would have asked more questions of United’s defence, particularly given how another physical striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, had bullied Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof in the second half of Saturday’s 3-3 draw.
Antonio’s replacement, Andriy Yarmolenko, struggled to make much headway and his night was cut short soon after the restart when he suffered a knee injury.
In truth, it was a game short of inspiration and in need of a goal. Lukasz Fabianski pulled off a superb save when he managed to tip the ball on to a post in the first half, after Lindelof’s header from Alex Telles’ corner had taken a wicked deflection off Dawson.
The West Ham goalkeeper was also quick off his line to thwart a shot from Marcus Rashford in the second half but, for all United’s shots, few troubled the net.
