It is only three months since Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United but the club have moved on so quickly it already feels like a lifetime ago and even the chant associated with the Portugal striker has found an exciting new outlet.
Alejandro Garnacho, in truth, was making a name for himself before Ronaldo had actually left the building. His dramatic late winner against Fulham in November in United’s final game before the World Cup served notice of his enormous talent and ensured Craven Cottage reverberated to the sound of “Viva Garnacho”.
So when Wout Weghorst’s shot cannoned off Nayef Aguerd and high into the air with the clock about to hit 90 and the prospect of extra-time looming, there was a feverish expectation as the ball dropped and Garnacho killed it dead with the deftest of touches to set up the shot to follow. But as soon as the ball left the Argentine teenager’s right foot, it was only ending up in one place and as it flew into the far corner a loud, guttural roar erupted from all sides of Old Trafford who were soon dancing to that familiar tune as they toasted a memorable comeback. Fulham now await in the quarter-finals.
“It is a great skill when you are fearless, when you are brave,” the United manager Erik ten Hag said of the Argentine teenager. “He is one of the players that I think has a skill that is so specific. There are not many players in world football who take players on, who are capable of just going at players and out dribbling them. But he has more skill than only that, for example, finishing as we saw. I also have a big engine. He is fast and has speed, but he can keep running for 90 minutes or 120 minutes.”
What a run United are on. What momentum they have. What spirit and togetherness they are showing. They will go to Anfield on Sunday and face Liverpool brimming with confidence. They had paraded the Carabao Cup before kick off following Sunday’s triumph against Newcastle but, with 14 minutes to go, it did not look like they would be adding the FA Cup to the collection this season.
Behind to Said Benrahma’s stunning strike early in the second half, a weakened, understrength United had David De Gea to thank for the damage not being more severe, the Spain goalkeeper having made two excellent saves in either half to deny Michail Antonio.
David Moyes, the West Ham manager, was right to bemoan those missed chances and what he called the “two ridiculous goals” his side gave away so late, with poor Aguerd enduring a nightmare end to the game as they crumbled under the weight of pressure. United, though, are finding different ways to win and different players are stepping forward at different times. “Once again the team showed personality, character, they never give up and turned this game around,” Ten Hag said. “It’s massive in terms of mentality.”
The first half was a reminder of how Ten Hag’s squad still needs strengthening. This was very much a United second string, with the manager making six changes to Sunday’s team, and it showed, so much so that Ten Hag did not hesitate in introducing his midfield lynchpin, Casemiro, at the interval and before too long Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez were also introduced.
Neither Harry Maguire nor Victor Lindelof convinced alongside each other at centre-half and you could see the uncertainty it bred through the rest of the team.
Antonio’s first golden chance came in the 23rd minute when Benrahma spotted an inviting gap between Maguire and Lindelof and released Michael Antonio on goal, only for De Gea to spare his defenders’ blushes. Maguire was later booked for a clumsy late challenge on Antonio. Marcel Sabitzer forced a good low save and Garnacho had an effort pushed away but United could probably not have too many complaints about falling behind.
There was a whiff of controversy about Benrahma’s goal. The questions centred on whether the ball had gone out of play on the touchline before Tomas Soucek played in Emerson down West Ham’s left flank, from where the full-back pulled the ball back for Benrahma to let fly with a bullet of a shot. But Simon Hooper, the Var, decided the whole ball had not gone out and West Ham had their lead. They should have doubled it, too, but Antonio – for the second time on the night – was denied by De Gea after tearing away from Martinez.
