There were celebrations for Anthony Martial and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as they helped Manchester United progress to the semi-final of the Capital One cup, beating West Ham 4-1 at Old Trafford.
Four goals and a spot in the #EFLCup semis. That'll do nicely. #MUFC pic.twitter.com/cZf3KNRIvY
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) November 30, 2016
United took the lead after just two minutes when Ibrahimovic lofted the ball over Adrian after an exquisite flick by Henrik Mkhitaryan.
West Ham could count themselves fairly lucky though after that goal as replays showed that goalkeeper Adrian clearly caught Ibrahimovic with his studs while trying to save the Swede’s shot.
Ibrahimovic should have doubled his and United’s tally a few minutes later though, Adrian made two phenomenal saves back to back to deny the former PSG man.
United were made to rue their missed chances when their keeper David De Gea fumbled Dimitri Payet’s shot on goal right into Anthony Fletcher’s path.
The 21-year-old who, before joining West Ham this summer had been a youth prospect at United for seven years made no mistake in putting the ball into the back of the United net.
United were forced to play today’s game without their manager Jose Mourinho who was forced to to watch the game elsewhere due to his one-match touchline ban for reacting negatively to a decision made by the official in their premier league game against West Ham last weekend.
Martial put United back ahead three minutes after the break, Mkhitaryan found the Frenchmen inside the box and he slotted the ball into the top corner with ease.
Wayne Rooney’s night didn’t go quite as he would have wanted. The England captain is one goal off Sir Bobby Charlton’s record tally of 249 goals for United and he would have hoped to tie the record but it wouldn’t happen for the 31-year-old on the night, much to the chagrin of the crowd hoping to witness history.
Rooney’s desperation to get the historic goal did lead to him getting a yellow card midway through the second half for dissent, meaning he will be suspended for United’s next game at Rooney’s former club Everton.
Martial could have had another one just moments later as he shot straight at Adrian after being put through on goal by captain Wayne Rooney.
He did go on and get his second just after the hour mark, calmly finishing from Antonio Valencia’s excellent cross.
Former German world cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger was given a brief chance to impress late into the game, coming off the bench despite him being frozen out by United manager Jose Mourinho.
Amazing evening with a perfect result. Thanks for the warm welcome at Old Trafford! @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/cPSr1dIO8L
— Basti Schweinsteiger (@BSchweinsteiger) November 30, 2016
Sofiane Feghouli should have given West Ham a consolation late on but the Algerian winger fluffed his lines.
Ibrahimovic did join Martial on a double in injury time with a simple tap in following good work from Schweinsteiger and Ander Herrera.
Elsewhere in the Capital One Cup Quarter Finals Southampton beat a hapless Arsenal 2-0 at The Emirates.
After the final whistle the draw for the semi-finals took place, Manchester United drew 2014 FA cup runners up Hull City and eight time winners Liverpool face Southampton.
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