Manchester United found a way to find the back of the net to go with their attacking verve and as a result they eased into the semifinals of the EFL Cup. With Jose Mourinho watching on from a secret room, Manchester United topped West Ham 4-1 in the quarterfinals at Old Trafford.
Too many times this season, Manchester United have dominated games only to end up drawing them or even ending up on the losing side. However, this time, after getting an early goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United, who were held by West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday, found a way to turn dominance into victory, and a comprehensive one at that.
With Mourinho serving a one-match touchline ban, Manchester United got off to the perfect start as Ibrahimovic slotted the ball past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian after outstanding play from Wayne Rooney, who looked more like the Wayne Rooney of old in this game, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, slowly but surely finding his feet in English football.
Fears of that "Oh we dominated again, but we are going to throw it away one more time" came to the forefront, however, when West Ham equalised, despite Manchester United having plenty of chances to double their lead, ten minutes from halftime.
It was their former player too, as Ashley Fletcher slotted the ball home after David De Gea failed to gather a strike from Dmitri Payet.
The second half, though, belonged to Manchester United, as Anthony Martial completed a brace in 14 minutes. Ibrahimovic added his second in second half stoppage time and the home team eased into the semifinals, where they will play Hull City.
"We won comfortably with beautiful, attacking football," Mourinho said. "Goals plus performance equals real happiness. I'm pleased with the result, because the performance is something that we're used to.
"We are playing very, very well at home and this was more of the same. I think that, after their goal, we had 10 minutes where we felt it. The players couldn't hide that, because West Ham equalised with their first shot, but in the second half the team got the confidence to play again."
Watch the highlights of the match HERE
