Man United’s season saved, for now, as they rescue FA Cup draw against West Ham
Seemingly on their way out of the Europa League following a dismal showing in the first leg of their last 16 tie at Liverpool, their hopes of turning around a 2-0 deficit in the return on Thursday night look as flimsy as their prospects of finishing in the Premier League’s top four to secure Champions League football next season.
Their chances of salvaging something from the campaign and either earning manager Louis van Gaal a reprieve or allowing him to ride into the sunset of retirement in the summer with his head held high therefore appeared to rest on progressing to the FA Cup semi-finals and keeping alive the prospect of winning the competition for the first time since 2004.
When Dimitri Payet scored a stunning free-kick, minutes after he should arguably have been sent off following an apparent dive in the penalty area, that prize looked set to elude Van Gaal and add to the pressure facing the Dutchman with West Ham’s resurgence ready to propel them to their first semi-final in the competition since they went all the way to the final before losing in extra-time to Liverpool in 2006.
Two points and a place better off than United in the Premier League in that pursuit of an unlikely top-four finish, these Hammers are a far superior model to most of the West Ham teams that have failed in 10 previous attempts to win at Old Trafford.
But just when Van Gaal and United needed salvation they found it in the shape of Anthony Martial, one of the few to have come through a winter of discontent unscathed.
The 20-year-old has had to shoulder much of United’s attacking burden this season, particularly in the absence of injured captain Wayne Rooney, and his 11th goal of the season was perfectly timed, skillfully steered in at the far post from a deep Ander Herrera cross.
United weren’t quite secure as Mark Noble and Michail Antonio both went close for the visitors in a breathless finish to a pulsating tie and a trip to the Boleyn Ground, where West Ham will be desperate to win their last FA Cup tie before relocating to the Olympic Stadium, will not be easy.
But Van Gaal’s delight to still be in there fighting was evident at the end of a ‘nasty’ week, which had seen his side lose both on Merseyside and in the league at West Bromwich Albion, when Juan Mata’s dismissal cost him his place in yesterday’s side through suspension.
“When you see the spirit of my team it is unbelievable,” said Van Gaal “When you lose a game against Liverpool it runs very deep in the club.
“Then you have to play within two days against a very good team like West Ham, who have been preparing for this game for a week while we had to recover in two days, and found yourselves 1-0 behind.
“So to come back like that is fantastic. I was very proud of my team. I have seen a great match, an entertaining match.
“We are still in three competitions and I said to Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young that you can still play the final.”
That trio may now have an added incentive to return from injury but it didn’t look that way when Payet struck in the 64th-minute.
Four minutes earlier the France international, having been booked for an earlier trip on Jesse Lingard, might have walked when he went down in the box despite no apparent contact from Marcos Rojo.
Referee Martin Atkinson gave him the benefit of the doubt, while the managers, not surprisingly, had differing views.
“Payet was more or less diving,” said Van Gaal.
“He was maybe touched but not enough to fall like that. But there is always discussions about the decisions.
“The man has to decide within one second. That is more difficult than I can do.” Slaven Bilic, meanwhile, said he would defend his player “as far as Cambridge.”
“Nobody in the world can say there wasn’t a touch. Then if it was a touch, and it is more than a touch, it is a penalty. I am not saying it was nasty, but it was mistimed,” added the West Ham manager.
Thankfully, that did not prove to be the decisive moment and after both sides gave everything in pursuit of a winner, they deserve the chance to meet again.
De Gea 8; Varela 7 (Darmian 87), Smalling 7, Blind 7, Rojo 7; Herrera 8, Carrick 7; Lingard 6, Fellaini 6 (Schweinsteiger 76), Martial 7; Rashford 6 (Depay 76).
Romero, Januzaj, Schneiderlin, Williams.
Randolph 6; Antonio 7, Reid 6 (Obiang 62), Ogbonna 7, Cresswell 8; Kouyate 7, Noble 8, Lanzini 8; Emenike 6 (Sakho 64), Carroll 7 (Valencia 82), Payet 8.
Song, O’Brien, Moses.
Martin Atkinson
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