Late blow for Hammers as McTominay breaks Irons
THIS was a story about one midfielder providing further evidence of his goal-scoring instincts, another underlining just how lost Manchester United look without him and a third being left to rue another opportunity that passed him by.
Scott McTominay’s extra-time goal was enough to secure United’s passage through to the FA Cup quarter-finals at the expense of a West Ham side for whom defeat was compounded by injuries to three players.
Yet this was another game when United looked largely bereft without their midfield talisman, Bruno Fernandes, to show them their way and it was no surprise that confidence and tempo improved once the Portuguese replaced a forlorn Donny van de Beek, whose debut season at Old Trafford shows no signs of igniting.
A forgettable game was eventually settled in the 97th minute when, from an interception by Luke Shaw on Declan Rice, United broke at pace. on the counter-attack. Anthony Martial fed Fernandes, who slipped the ball to the overlapping Fred.
His cross was not cleared and, from a poor header by Tomas Soucek, Marcus Rashford flicked the ball into the path of the advancing McTominay to lash home from inside the penalty area. It was his third goal in as many games and his sixth in his last 14 appearances, proof that there is more than one midfielder who can score goals at Old Trafford.
The goals have flooded in at both ends at Old Trafford in recent weeks but United looked neither like scoring nor conceding during a stodgy opening period when they controlled possession and were untroubled defensively but unimaginative offensively.
Lukasz Fabianski pulled off a superb save when he managed to tip the ball on to a post and out after Victor Lindelof’s header from Alex Telles’s corner had taken a wicked deflection off Craig Dawson.
Pedestrian
But it was all rather pedestrian in the main – an extra touch here, a pass back there and, in Van de Beek, United had a No 10 who kept vacating the central areas and drifting wide into spaces already occupied by a posse of red shirts. In fairness, the Dutchman has not played much since his £40 million move from Ajax last summer and the success of Bruno Fernandes in the position has served only to intensify the spotlight on any stand-ins but United were short of inspiration.
By far their most purposeful attacker was Mason Greenwood, who had a shot from inside the penalty area well blocked by Aaron Cresswell and continued his good form of late.
Telles, too, had the odd moment from left back but David Moyes, while doubtless disappointed his side did not offer more going forward, is unlikely to have felt too concerned at the back, despite being forced into a number of defensive reshuffles.
The first change came after Angelo Ogbonna was caught thick on his left ankle by Anthony Martial after the United striker had scuffed a shot. It was purely accidental but Ogbonna’s wail told you it was a bad one and on came Issa Diop in his place.
Yet Diop lasted just 29 minutes, taken off at half-time with a suspected concussion after a nasty clash of heads with Martial , and so Moyes felt compelled to switch to a back five, with Vladimir Coufal and Cresswell flanking Dawson in the middle and Ryan Fredericks and Ben Johnson introduced from the bench as wing backs.
Incredibly, West Ham’s injury woe did not end there. Before long, Andriy Yarmolenko was off, too, after taking a whack from Harry Maguire. Moyes must have been relieved this was the FA Cup where five substitutes are permitted.
Fabianski was out quick to smother a Marcus Rashford shot after Greenwood’s cross had wriggled through off Martial.
It was easy to forget Van de Beek was on the pitch and he was not the only one who appeared to be hiding. Mark Noble, Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice began to get a foothold in midfield, Johnson and Fredericks, in particular, offered pace and greater width on the flanks and Irish youngster Mipo Odubeko plenty of energy and enthusiasm in attack.
One good West Ham move culminated in a wild attempted clearance from Aaron Wan-Bissaka that would have ended up in his own net but for Dean Henderson patting it out. (© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021)
PEP GUARDIOLA believes Phil Foden is about to enter the toughest phase of his career and that the Manchester City midfielder’s ability to deliver on his talent for years to come will hinge on how successfully he handles the expectation and scrutiny of being in the spotlight.
Foden produced a stunning assist for Ilkay Gundogan to score 10 minutes before scoring a sublime goal in City’s 4-1 win over champions Liverpool on Sunday, their first victory at Anfield since 2003.
Gareth Southgate, the England manager, was among those present to watch Foden excel in his 102nd appearance for City.
Guardiola, asked if managing Foden in the next stage of his development would now be a bigger challenge,said: “Not for me, no. It will be for him.
“He has to be calm and understand the tough periods are going to come. It depends if he’s humble with this and the love for the game.
“The expectations at that age – we’ll see if he can handle it, now people will expect him to do exceptional things every game.
This is the most difficult thing [to deal with].
“Being there with 100 games [played], yeah it’s difficult, but what is important now is to do 100 more and 100 more at this level and playing every day and winning every day. This is the toughest one [to do].
“That is why the greatest players don’t play one great match in Anfield or play good games, they stay five years in a row being consistent and not being injured and playing, playing, playing.
“This is the next target for Phil. Playing as high as possible as long as possible. It depends absolutely on him and hopefully he can do it.”
Guardiola said the criticism Foden received in September after being sent home by Southgate 48 hours after making his senior England debut against Iceland was a reminder of the need to stay grounded.
“That is why I said to him, ‘Don’t read much or listen much, keep your feet on the grass and keep going’,” said Guardiola. (© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021)
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JOSE MOURINHO has backed Eric Dier to recover from his “crisis of confidence” and insisted the defender remains one of his most important players at Tottenham.
Dier has been dropped twice in the past four games, following costly errors in the defeats by Liverpool and Chelsea, and watched the victory over West Bromwich Albion from the substitutes’ bench.
It remains to be seen whether Mourinho, the head coach, restores Dier to his starting line-up for tonight’s FA Cup fifth-round tie at Everton, where the 27-year-old spent a short time on loan during his early career. “I don’t think he is paying the price of that (playing twice in 48 hours),” Mourinho said. “That was very early in the season and, of course, it was a crime. But after that there was not any problem.
“I believe players have moments. Theycanbeverygood,theycanbe strong personalities, they can be experienced, they can cope with a mistake, but they feel more than anyone else these little moments of confidence, of crisis.”
Other than banking on Dier recovering his confidence and form, Mourinho hopes that Dele Alli will be able to make a positive impact over the remainder of the season.
Alli was denied a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain in last month’s transfer window and, following a heart-to-heart with the player last week, Mourinho will check to see whether the 24-year-old, who has returned to training after injury, can play a part against Everton.
Mourinho said: “In this moment everybody knows he is a Tottenham player, who stays here. So with the end of the speculation, he can train, he can try to help the team because this is what we need.” (© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021) Everton v Tottenham,
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