Daily WHUFC News - 14th April 2016

West Ham United 1-2 Manchester United
WHUFC.com

Manchester United spoiled the party as goals from Marcus Rashford and
Marouane Fellaini helped them reach the FA Cup semi finals with a 2-1 win
over West Ham in the final ever cup game at the Boleyn Ground.

Despite a late goal from James Tomkins which got the Hammers back into the
game and a disallowed effort from Cheikhou Kouyate right at the death, the
home side failed to find a way back after United had raced into a two goal
lead.

There was disappointment all round the stadium at the final whistle, but
this has been some season for Slaven Bilic's side who enjoyed a memorable
run in the FA Cup and still stand a great chance of securing a European
place.

It proved to be an emotional night under the lights in the East End as the
fans said goodbye to cup football inside the famous old stadium.

The atmosphere was electric as the two teams entered the field and you could
sense what was at stake for both teams.

The Hammers players seemed to thrive off the noise emanating from the home
support and had a strong start to the game.

They could have broken the deadlock after just five minutes when Manuel
Lanzini played a clever ball into Enner Valencia who burst clear into the
box but he fired his shot straight at David De Gea.

After scoring a wonder goal at Old Trafford in the original tie, the crowd
drew their breathe as the home side were awarded a set-piece in a similar
position to where the French superstar scored from in Manchester on nine
minutes.

Payet was able to get his free-kick on target once again, but this time his
curling shot was well saved from David De Gea moving well to his right hand
side.

United came back strong into the game and came close on 14 minutes when
Marcus Rashford's deflected shot off Angelo Ogbonna flew just wide of the
post.

Ogbonna came to the home side's rescue once again on 18 minutes when he was
in the right place to deny Marouane Fellaini's close-range shot.

United continued to create the best openings and Darren Randolph made a
superb save to deny Jesse Lingard on 34 minutes who was clean through but
saw his low drive well kept out by the Hammers keeper diving low to his
right.

Bilic would have wanted a response from his players in the second half, but
it was United who almost broke the deadlock once again on 48 minutes when
Lingard found space on the edge of the box and fired a blistering shot just
wide of the post.

The Hammers finally found a route back on goal and Kouyate tried his luck
from 35 yards with a dipping shot which produced a fine save from De Gea
diving low to his right.

But United's dominance paid off when they found the breakthrough on 53
minutes.

Michail Antonio's poor clearance fell to Martial who played the ball into
Rashford weaved his way to the edge of the box before curling a right foot
shot past Randolph into the roof of the net.

United doubled their lead on 67 minutes when Lingard's cross picked out
Martial who saw his wayward shot fall to Fellaini and he converted from
close-range.

The Hammers have shown on a number of occasions this season that they are
never beaten and were handed a major lifeline when they pulled a goal back
on 78 minutes.

Payet's corner fell to Antonio who saw his shot superbly kept out by De Gea.

From the resulting corner, Payet's deep corner fell to Carroll who headed
the ball back across goal and Tomkins reacted the quickest to head the ball
over the line.

The Hammers threw everything at the United goal in the final quarter as they
looked to grab the all-important equaliser.

Carroll had a golden chance on 87 minutes when Aaron Cresswell's cross
picked out the Hammers striker who directed a powerful header inches over
the bar.

And the home side came even close sixty seconds later when they had the ball
in the United net.

Carroll's shot was kept out by De Gea and the rebound fell to Kouyate who
headed the ball over the United keeper but his effort was ruled out for
offside.

That proved to be the last chance for the Hammers and unfortunately the FA
Cup journey came to a cruel end in the last ever cup match to be witnessed
at the Boleyn Ground.

West Ham: Randolph, Antonio, Tomkins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Kouyate, Noble,
Valencia (Moses 62), Lanzini (Emenike 74), Payet, Carroll

Subs not used: Adrian, Obiang, Collins, Hendrie, Oxford

Bookings: Carroll

Manchester United: De Gea, Fosu-Mensah, Smalling, Blind, Rojo (A Valencia
67), Fellaini, Carrick, Lingard, Ander Herrera (Schneiderlin 76), Martial,
Rashford (Rooney 88)

Subs not used: Depay, Mata, Young, Romero

Bookings: Carrick, Rojo, Herrera

Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)

Attendance: 33,505

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