Final score: West Ham 1-2 Manchester United
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep! It’s all over at the Boleyn Ground, where Manchester United have qualified to play Everton in the FA Cup semi-final. Goals from Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini put Manchester United two goals up, before Mark Tomkins pulled one back to keep West Ham in contention.
It wasn’t enough, but West Ham certainly came close to taking the game to extra time as both Andy Carroll (twice) and Cheikhou Kouyate were foiled late on by a combination of gravity and great goalkeeping from David De Gea. A thoroughly enjoyable FA Cup quarter-final ends with Manchester United the winners.
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90+4 min: Manchester United are playing keep-ball around the edge of the West Ham penalty area. There are only a few seconds left.
90+2 min: ... shoots his effort into the wall, which deflects it away from David De Gea’s goal and out for a corner. Wayne Rooney is on as a late substitute for Manchester United.
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90+1 min: West Ham win a free-kick just outside the Manchester United penalty area, in the kind of spot Dimitri Payet rarely misses from. He stands over the ball and ...
89 min: SO CLOSE FOR WEST HAM!!! David De Gea saves brilliantly from a long range Kouyate effort, but can only beat the ball into the path of Carroll, who brings another save from the keeper. The ball bounces kindly for the Kouyate, who heads into the net only for his effort to be ruled out - correctly - for offside.
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87 min: Manchester United continue to dominate possession deep in West Ham territory, but the home side finally get out of their own half and go close to levelling the scores. Rising on the edge of the six-yard box, he sends a header fizzing just over the cross-bar after leaping highest to get his vast expanse of forehead to an Aaron Cresswell delivery from deep. Close, but no cigar.
84 min: Marcus Rashford picks the ball up in deep in West Ham territory and heads for the corner where he can hold it up while waiting for support. His hold-up play this evening has been excellent, as has his overall performance. It speaks volumes that on one of the very few occasions they’ve managed to get the ball to Andy Carroll in the box, they’ve scored a goal - his aerial skills have been woefully underused this evening.
82 min: He’\s had a good game tonight, but Marouane Fellaini won’t want to see a replay of Tomkins’ goal. He stood virtually motionless as the West Ham defender ducked to head past him, with Tomkins running the risk of getting his head kicked clean off his shoulders in the process.
80 min: Moments before West Ham pulled that goal back, David De Gea got down to save brilliantly from a near post flick from ... I think ... Antonio. Since being unceremoniously dumped at the side of the pitch by Mark Noble, Ander Herrera has been replaced by Morgan Schneiderlin.
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GOAL! West Ham 1-2 Manchester United (Tomkins 78)
West Ham win a corner and the ball’s swung to the far post, where Andy Carroll rises to knock it back across the face of goal. James Tomkins darts forward through a thicket of bodies to bravely head past David De Gea from close range. There’s no stopping that.
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74 min: Ander Herrera comes out second best from a challenge on Emineke nad goes to ground, removes his boot and starts nursing his sore foot. It looks like he might be about to get sent off for a second yellow, but it seems he’s going to get away with his second bad challenge in quick succession and be subbed off instead. With the Manchester United midfielder faffing around, with one boot on and one boot off, Mark Noble rushes over to him, puts his arms around Herrera’s waist, picks him up and literally carries him to the touchline so play can resume.
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73 min: Ander Herrera gets booked for waving a high boot in the vicinity of Mark Noble and Slaven Bilic takes advantage of the break in play to replace Manuel Lanzini with the Nigerian international Emmanuel Emineke.
70 min: Manchester United continue to dominate. Having brought Antonio Valencia on for Marcus Rojo, Louis van Gaal has put the substitute in at right-back and switched Tim Fosu-Mensah to left-back. West Ham desperately need a goal, but look more likely to concede a third than pull one back at the moment.
68 min: Fellaini doubles Manchester United’s lead, deftly kneeing home from about six yards after Martial had blasted a cross his way. Having won a knock-down at the far post, he waited as the ball found its way to Lingaard on the byline. He pulled the ball back to Martial, who drove it towards Fellaini to score.
GOAL! West Ham 0-2 Manchester United (Fellaini 67)
It’s as scrappy a goal as you’ll ever see, but they all count. Fellaini prods home with his knee at far post to convert a cross from Anthony Martial.
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64 min: Lanzini sprints down the left flank and gets in behind Fosu-Mensah, who has a little tug at his shirt in the penalty area as the West Ham man tried to get a cross in from the byline. Lanzini goes down, West Ham’s fans appeal for a penalty and the ball goes out for a corner. Referee Roger East awards the corner quadrant and nothing comes of the ensuing dead ball.
63 min: Randolph is quick off his line once again, getting down to snuff out the danger as Rashford attempted to run on to a through-ball from Jesse Lingaard.
62 min: Enner Valencia’s number goes up. He’s done nothing this evening and is replaced by Victor Moses.
59 min: Darren Randolph hares off his line to get down and reach a through-ball being chased by Ander Herrera on the edge of the penalty area. Good goalkeeping. Moments previously, Enner Valencia, who is having a bit of a mare, had annoyed the hell out of Andy Carroll and West Ham’s supporters, by spurning an opportunity to get the ball into the penalty area where the big man was primed and ready to leap.
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57 min: West Ham have a penalty shout turned down by referee Roger East after Dimitri Payet goes to ground in a penalty box tussle with Daley Blind. Payet had wriggled past Michael Carrick on the edge of the penalty area before going down as he contested a loose ball with the Dutchman. Was there contact? Definitely. Should it have been a penalty? I don’t think so, but I’ve seen them given for a lot less.
56 min: Anthony Martial turned provider there after being gifted the ball by Antonio. The Frenchman played Rashford into the penalty area, where he bamboozled James Tomkins and Angelo Agbonnha with some nifty footwork before curling the ball between the two defenders and into the top corner. A splendid finish and Manchester United lead.
GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Manchester United (Rashford 54)
That is a wonderful strike by Marcus Rashford, who curls the ball into the top right-hand corner after capitalising on an error by Michail Antonio.
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52 min: Payet and Lanzini combine down the left for West Ham, before playing the ball back to Cheikhou Kouyate. He cuts inside and shoots from distance, but his effort is high and wide.
51 min: Manchester United continue to turn the screw, with play concentrated around the edge of the West Ham penalty area and the home side struggling to clear.
49 min: Manchester United win a throw-in deep in West Ham territory. The ball finds it’s way to Blind, who sents a lofting ball from deep towards Fellaini in the penalty area. His knock-down is played out towards Lingaard, who takes a wild swing from distance and sends a long-range effort wide. Good play from the visitors.
47 min: Manchester United are dominating possession of the early stages of this second half and Aaron Cresswell does well to slide in and cut out an attempted cross from the right by Jesse Lingaard.
Second half: West Ham v Manchester United
46 min: Manchester United get proceedings under way for the second half, with that impressive looking storm having passed, taking the rain with it. There are no changes on either side at half-time. If it remains all square after 90 minutes, we’ll have extra time and the possibility of penalties with a place in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton up for grabs.
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@bglendenning here's that storm over the Boleyn Ground as viewed from Peckham. pic.twitter.com/YCwhwCMoPh
— Sasha Scott (@sasha__scott) April 13, 2016
Half-time at the Boleyn Ground: West Ham 0-0 Manchester United
It’s scoreless and all square at half-time in an entertaining game. West Ham started the stronger of the two teams, but Manchester United have roared back into proceedings and have enjoyed the better chances. Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard will be very disappointed not to have scored, while West Ham have enjoyed plenty of possession, but created little in the way of chances.
45 +1 min: Marcus Rojo needlessly fells Enner Valencia wide on the right flank and earns a yellow card for his trouble. Dimtri Payet swings the ball into the penalty area, where Marcus Rashford heads clear. As Ander Herrera attempts to run the ball out of defence, Andy Carroll slides in with a late challenge that earns the West Ham front man a booking.
43 min: In scenes reminiscent of the climax of one of Michael Bay’s dreadful Transformer movies, Andy Carroll and Marouane Fellaini leap to contest a high ball into the West Ham penalty area. Fellaini “wins” the header, with the ball coming off the forearm he’s got raised above his head. Was it a handball? I don’t know. No foul is forthcoming.
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42 min: More good play from Manchester United, as Fosu-Mensah whips a low across into the Manchester penalty area. It fizzes towards Rashford, whose touch is poor and the ball clanks harmlessly off his shin and out for a goal-kick.
40 min: Rojo stands the ball up for Marouane Fellaini at the far post, but there’s nobody in a white shirt on hand to capitalise on the Belgian’s knockdown. From the edge of the area, Michael Carrick tries his luck with a volley after Rashford had a shot blocked and the ball looped up in the air. It’s a half-chance that he doesn’t quite hold off and the ball rolls wide of the left upright.
38 min: Slaven Bilic issues instructions from the edge of his technical area, his head protected by a black club beanie hat, while his suit gets soaked in the deluge. His side have a free-kick a long way out from the Manchester United penalty area, right in front of goal. Payet sends a flat delivery towards the edge of the area, but is unable to pick out a team-mate.
35 min: Another great save from Darren Randolph, who sprints on to a ball from Marcus Rashford and has a clear sight on goal, only to be denied by the West Ham keeper, who stays on his feet and sticks out a boot to stop the midfielder’s attempt to poke the ball past him. Kudos also to Rashford, who ran directly at and past two West Ham defenders before rolling the ball into the path of his team-mate.
33 min: It’s spilling down with rain at the Boleyn Ground as MAnchester United win two corners in quick succession. Daley Blind takes both, with Andy Carroll clearing the second with a powerful header and sending West Ham off on a counter-attack. Kouyate it is who goes a galloping down the pitch only to be blocked by Carrick, who is very, very lucky to avoid picking up a second yellow card.
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30 min: It’s scoreless after 30 minutes, but none the poorer for the absence of goals. Enner Valencia sprints between the Manchester United centre-backs to latch on to a through ball from Lanzini, but shoots tamely at David De Gea.
29 min: James Tomkins looks to have picked up a knock of some description, perhaps a recurrence of the injury that forced him out of West Ham’s 3-3 draw against Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.
27 min: About 40 yards from the Manchester United goal, Michael Carrick is penalised and booked for a block on Dimitri Payet. Payet goes on to whip the free-kick into the Manchester United penalty area, but it’s cleared. This is a very entertaining match.
25 min: James Tomkins charges down the right flank and sends the ball sailing into the Manchester United penalty area towards Andy Carroll. There’s a might too much welly on his delivery, leaving the striker with little option but to knock the ball downwards rather than head it goalwards. He does so effectively, albeit with all the grace of a Chinook in a tailspin, but there’s nobody on hand to capitalise on his energetic industriousness.
23 min: Marcus Rojo rolls the ball out of play for a throw-in as he tries to play it down the left flank to Anthony Martial. Poor play - his delivery was woefully undercooked.
21 min: James Tomkins slides in to put the ball out for a corner and prevent Marcus Rashford from drilling a low ball across the edge of the West Ham six-yard box. Daley Blind plays the corner short to Ander Herrera, but nowt comes of it and West Ham clear.
20 min: With nearly a quarter of the game gone, West Ham are dominating, but the best chance has fallen to their visitors. Fellaini’s been putting himself about in midfield and has been the lanky, big-haired fulcrum through which his side’s best play has flowed.
18 min: Chance! Marouane Fellaini brings a great save out of Darren Randolph, who tips his goal-bound effort over the bar for a corner. Fellaini got in to the Hammers penalty area behind Mark Noble and unleashed a surface-to-air screamer that took a deflection off Angelo Ogbonnha. Randolph did well to keep it out. Nothing comes from the corner.
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17 min: Dimitri Payet scampers along the edge of the Manchester United penalty area with the ball at his feet, before Chris Smalling puts his boot through it and clears with an agricultural hoof.
14 min: Marouane Fellaini charges through the centre and, with options to both sides, eschews the Anthony Martial option and picks out Marcus Rashford on his right. The young striker shapes to shoot, but has his effort blocked. In their eagerness to get men forward, West Ham are leaving gaps at the back.
13 min: West Ham continue to dominate, but Tomkins attempts to pick out Lanzini with a pass from the edge of the final third is unsuccessful. Manchester United finally alleviate the pressure when Marouane Fellaini dispossesses Angelo Agbonnha and gets the ball forward.
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11 min: Manuel Lanzini runs quickly and directly at the Manchester United defence, but is unable to pick out a team-mate with his final ball.
9 min: Or will he? No he won’t - the Frenchman attempts to make an eejit out of me and David De Gea by whipping the ball in at the near post, when everyone else was expecting a cross. His effort is on target, but the United goalkeeper is wise to Payet’s shenanigans and gathers comfortably.
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8 min: West Ham get another free-kick in a dangerous area, for a Fosu-Mensah foul on the nimble-footed Payet. It’s wide right and not within shooting range, but Payet will once again be hoping to pick out Carroll.
7 min: Mark Noble wins a free-kick wide on the left as he attempts to turn Chris Smalling down near the corner flag. Dimitri Payet stands over the ball, hoping to pick out Andy Carroll. He sends the ball into the mixer, where Ander Herrera heads clear.
5 min: Aaron Cresswell and Enner Valencia combine down the left for West Ham, with the former getting in behind Tim Fosu-Mensah to hammer a cross into the box. Chris Smalling half-clears, but the ball is quickly returned to Valencia, who unleashes a shot that doesn’t trouble David De Gea unduly. It’s a lively start and West Ham just about have the upper hand.
3 min: Manchester United go on the attack, with Marcus Rojo attempting to ping an early cross on to the head of Marcus Rashford after a run down the inside left. James Tomkins sticks his head in to intercept and clear.
1 min: To a raucous soundtrack from both sets of fans, the game gets under way. West Ham win the first corner of the game after a galloping run from over-lapping full-back Michail Antonio. He flicks the ensuing inswinger wide at the near post.
Not long now ...
The teams are out on the pitch and Dimitri Payet is running around giving pre-match hugs to each and every one of his team-mates. West Ham’s players wear their usual home strip, while Manchester United’s are kitted out in white shirts, black shorts and white socks. Andy Carroll and Mark Noble are about to get the ball rolling ...
Kick-off is looming ...
Just five minutes until kick-off and the BBC, upon whom I am relying for my visuals, are currently showing a Party Election Broadcast for the Women’s Equality Party. I’m all in favour of equality, but I’m not sure this is great timing on their part as far as convincing “undecided” West Ham and Manchester United fans is concerned. Other political parties are, of course, available. Not all of them are concerned with equality, obviously, as the Tories have proved in recent days.
So, Wayne Rooney makes the bench ...
It’s as expected, with the big man likely to get a run out later in the game as he works his way back to fitness after injury. Tim Fosu-Mensah starts for United, in a Manchester United team that - on paper at least - doesn’t look anywhere near as strong as their West Ham counterparts to this minute-by-minute reporter’s rheumy eye.
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West Ham v Manchester United line-ups
West Ham: Randolph, Antonio, Tomkins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Kouyate, Noble, Valencia, Lanzini, Payet, Carroll.
Subs: Adrian, Obiang, Collins, Moses, Emenike, Hendrie, Oxford.
Man Utd: De Gea, Fosu-Mensah, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Fellaini, Carrick, Lingard, Ander Herrera, Martial, Rashford.
Subs: Depay, Mata, Rooney, Young, Romero, Valencia, Schneiderlin.
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Kick-off: 7pm (BST)
Following their difficulties last Sunday ...
Manchester United were late for their match against Spurs last weekend, only arriving at White Hart Lane 10 minutes before kick-off after their team coach got stuck in traffic. Luckily, West Ham have been good enough to issue with a reminder ... ....
Hey @ManUtd - just a quick reminder that kick-off is at 7pm. Wouldn't want you to be late for the game... 😜
— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) April 13, 2016
.... which has been heeded
They’ve made it through the 🚗🚕🚐🚚🚌🚛🚙🏍🚜🚀⛵️! #FarewellBoleyn pic.twitter.com/1fhw1xg0LY
— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) April 13, 2016
Early team news ...
Having lined up for Manchester United’s U-21s on Monday after two months out with a knee injury, Wayne Rooney is expected to play some part in proceedings tonight, while Phil Jones is a fitness doubt along with Timothy Fosu-Mensah. The hosts will be without Diafro Sakho, who Slaven Bilic insists has been sidelined with a knee injury, despite reports of a row between the pair over the Senegalese’s omission from the West Ham team that drew with Arsenal last Saturday.
They go again ...
A packed football schedule means it’s been exactly one month since West Ham and Manchester United drew 1-1 at Old Trafford in their first attempt to settle this FA Cup quarter-final tie at Old Trafford, when an Anthony Martial equaliser seven minutes from time kept the out-of-sorts home side in the hunt for a semi-final berth against Everton.
The last ever FA Cup tie to be staged at West Ham’s Boleyn Ground is scheduled to kick-off at the unusual (local) time of 7pm, what with Uefa’s aversion to televised football matches being played at the same time as fixtures in their precious Champions League.
With both teams having Premier League fixtures scheduled for next week, a compromise of sorts was reached, which means this game will only clash with the first half of Barcelona v Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich v Benfica, which are also being played tonight ... unless of course it goes to extra time and penalties, a state of affairs that Sod’s Law decrees is almost certain to unfold.
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