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Manchester United left it late with a solitary goal after extra time with the Hammers at home. United made 6 changes to the side that drew with Everton in the Premier League and the new young talent, Amad made the bench.
Martial led the line and was flanked with Rashford and Greenwood on the night he was making his 250th appearance for Manchester United after being signed from Monaco and he made his debut with that sensational goal against Liverpool. How time flies.
It was a match with fine margins and United dominated from start to finish but failed to make anything meaningful out of their attacking plays. United always struggle against a team that defends so deep as they run out of ideas sometimes on how to penetrate the defence and they are always slow to build their attack.
Martial produced a good run in the 11th minute after Rashford found Telles who in turn found Martial. Martial got a touch but it was blocked by Ogbonna who was left injured in the process. He was later substituted and Diop came in for him. It was a massive blow for David Moyes as they could have used his aerial threat in the course of the game.
Lindelof also had a shock blocked from West Ham in the 15th minute as they signalled their intent not to be rolled over for this match and a minute after, Martial held off West Ham's defender in the box, expertly turned and fed Greenwood whose shot was also blocked by Cresswell.
In the 27th minute, United came so close when Liindelof got his head on a corner kick only for Fabianski to push it against the base of the post. A huge let-off for West Ham there and brilliant one from the goalkeeper as well. He quickly got down and dived so low to keep the ball out with his fingertips.
West Ham defended so well and kept United's attack to a good distance. United resulted to long shots and sometimes a flash across the face of the goal. Tell us had a left-footed shot from outside the box blocked in the 31st minute.
West Ham came close in the 37th minute when Soucek flicked a header into the box but Martial headed it clear while colliding with Diop. They both required treatment but Diop went off again during the second half.
The first half ended with no real action and just possession for Manchester United.
In the 53rd minute, Fabianski was at it again when he saved brilliantly from Rashford. Greenwood had a shot flash the face of the goal and it got a deflection from Martial while being directed into the path of Rashford. He controlled it and hit the shot but Fabianski was up to the task.
West Ham came alive in the 57th minute and caused United some real problems but United dealt with them. Van De Beek had a brilliant run in the 66th minute to get to a lofted pass but he was flagged for offside and 2 minutes after, Lindelof gave the ball away. West Ham had a 3 on 2 situations and should have taken advantage of it but the last pass was blocked by Lindelof, much to his relief too.
In the 71st minute, Wan Bissaka had a terrible clearance head towards goal but the goalkeeper made sure to push it to safety. In the 74th minute, United made a double substitution with Fernandes and McTominay coming in for Van De Beek and Matic.
Dawson blocked Greenwood's flash across the goal and with the introduction of the duo, life came again into this United side. It has been a poor showing before their introduction. United had only 2 shots in 79th minute so far.
In the 82nd minute, Martial produced a right run and Telles found him but his header went wide. Cavani also entered into the fray when he came in for Greenwood in the 86th minute. West Ham came close to getting the lead in the 92nd minute when Dawson's flick header was dealt with by Bissaka.
Extra-time came and United made another double substitution when Bissaka and Telles came off and Brandon Williams with Shaw came into the fray.
McTominay got the crucial goal after a brilliant team effort in the 7th minute of extra time. Bruno Fernandes passed to Fred who crossed into the box. Cavani had a flick and it fell to Rashford who made a little touch for McTominay to smash home. 1-0. That was his 7th goal of the season in 33 games.
United possessed and pressed more with Fernandes at the heart of things but they couldn't add to their tally. Martial had a good chance to add to it with the last kick of the game when Fred found him. He controlled the ball well and had a shot that was saved by Fabianski.
The one goal was enough for United to stroll into the Quarter Finals after boasting of 7 Quarter-Finals and 8 Semi-Finals in a row.
United had 16 shots in this game and only 4 shots were on target while West Ham had just 3 shots with nothing on target.
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A very brilliant update