Five things learned: Manchester United 3-1 West Ham (FA Cup)

Manchester United won 3-1 against West Ham in the fifth round of the FA Cup as Erik ten Hag’s men turned the game around in the late stages of the game.

After equalising through an own goal, United score twice in the 90th minute to give them a comfortable scoreline. The game was anything but.

Here are five things we learned during the encounter:

Cup final hangover?

It seemed like a mix of cup final hangover and the heavy rotation in the side, but nevertheless, Ten Hag would’ve been disappointed with the performance from his side.

After returning to training on Monday, it would’ve been nice to see a great performance to build on recent form, but United found a way to keep themselves in the game until the manager switched things on to then turn the game around.

Ten Hag’s changes again

The manager has been getting praised for his substitutes recently and Wednesday was another day where his changes helped make the difference for United.

Moving Wout Weghorst deeper and bringing Marcus Rashford on upfront, as well as bringing Fred and Casemiro into the game were all crucial in the turnaround which saw United score three times.

In a game where many players were able to rest or play a maximum of thirty minutes, the manager handled things well and got his side into the hat for the quarter-finals.

David de Gea impresses again

David de Gea made two absolutely crucial saves in either half to keep United in the game at Old Trafford.

The Spaniard denied Michail Antonio with two one-on-one efforts which he really should have scored.

It comes following his 181st clean sheet for the club in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle and the shot-stopper showed his abilities again in the FA Cup.

Garnacho is a danger, best role still clear

The young winger was awarded another start in this encounter and showed his danger on the flank. His directness and fearlessness are great to watch, even if there’s much to improve in his decision-making and cutting-edge at times.

It’s still clear, however, that in the early stages of games he can find it difficult, Ben Johnson had his number for much of the opening stages and his physical presence limited Garnacho at times.

However, Garnacho is resilient and has a great engine. He continues to make runs all throughout the game and in the latter stages of the game the teenager had more success.

His reward came in the 90th minute when the effort, quality and timing all came together to give United the lead.

It is clear that the winger is best against tired legs in the latter stages of the game. It came in handy at Old Trafford in this win even though he started the game, though.

Getting through

Perhaps it was not a classic performance or one that would’ve been so enjoyable, but Ten Hag’s men were able to keep themselves in the game despite a poor performance.

And when you are playing poorly, it’s even better to be able to pull through a result and the character in the latter stages of the game showed what United have learned in recent months.

After winning one domestic cup competition, The Reds have gotten through in the other.