A late comeback from Manchester United saw them defeat West Ham United 3-1 at Old Trafford in the fifth round of the FA Cup last night.
All eyes were on the Red Devils who went into the game on the back of their Carabao Cup triumph.
Erik ten Hag made several changes to his side. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof formed the centre-back partnership as Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were omitted from the line-up.
West Ham took the lead in the 54th minute when Said Benrahma’s excellent strike found the top corner.
After the opener, the visitors invited pressure from United by sitting deep. Relentless attacks from the Red Devils bore fruit when Nayef Aguerd headed the ball into the back of his own net.
A couple of very late goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Fred helped Man United to progress to the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Shuffling the pack did not help Erik ten Hag
After an exhausting evening at Wembley Stadium, the United manager shuffled his side.
Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Varane and Martinez were on the sidelines and the team’s performance suffered.
United’s defence lacked pace and vision to play line-breaking passes. Before the end of the first half, both Scott McTominay and Maguire were booked.
United lacked an attacking threat as Antony failed to take on defenders successfully. If not for David de Gea, United would have been behind before half-time.
Are Manchester United too reliant on Casemiro?
McTominay has been on the fringes of the side since Casemiro first started for Man United. He had a great chance tonight to show he can be a decent back-up to the Brazilian.
However, the Scotland international failed. His yellow card forced Ten Hag to unleash Casemiro.
The 31-year-old did lose a ball a few times, but the more important part of his performance was that he always tried to pass forward.
He did not shy away from playing long-ball passes to the wide men. He is a fantastic holding midfielder, but his distribution makes him even more special.
Alejandro Garnacho turns up the heat in the second half
The 18-year-old struggled in the first half, much like his colleagues. He could not find spaces to run into, which thwarted his style of play.
When Rashford came on the pitch, the defenders concentrated more on the in-form England international.
This allowed Garnacho to exploit the left flank and he did not disappoint. His 90th-minute curled strike shows how talented he is.
Ten Hag will be grateful to him for saving his teammates 30 minutes of extra time amid the already congested fixture list.
