West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, not surprisingly, defended his man and is looking forward to a second chance to beat United in what will be the last cup tie at the Hammers’ current ground before they move to the Olympic Stadium in the summer. United really need to push for the victory over West Ham in order to reach Wembley as with Crystal Palace facing Watford, like last season, the tie is set for a United victory.
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Home boss Van Gaal said: “I was very happy because when you see the spirit of my team, it was unbelievable. They were mentally exhausted after Liverpool and also in the body”. However, that was not the case this season as all of Crystal Palace, Watford, Everton, West Ham and Manchester United are rather evenly matched, with this being the most competitive Premier League season in recent memory.
I went up to Old Trafford as a fan on Sunday with some mates and speaking to the fans before the game and then at the service station afterwards, everyone was expecting us to get a result there, which is quite remarkable.
With Arsenal eight points off the pace in the Premier League and 2-0 down to Barcelona ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League last 16 return leg, their chances of silverware are fading fast.
But unlike in recent defeats to West Brom and Liverpool, United were able to find a response and Anthony Martial’s 83rd-minute equaliser ensured a replay at Upton Park.
The first 15 minutes, West Ham were the better team but after that, we came back in the match.
Van Gaal said: “When you have played against West Brom and lost and against Liverpool and lost, to come back like that is incredible”.
The replay is going to be a tough game, but I fancy us because we’re going to be even more confident.
Winners in 2014 and 2015, Arsenal were bidding to become the first team to win the competition for three consecutive years since Blackburn Rovers between 1884 and 1886. I know he has been at the games watching a few of us. We were well aware of that going into the game and wanted to go through in this competition.
“Our dressing room was, and still is, very silent”.
“We have a good record against the London clubs this season and I hope that will continue at Stamford Bridge on Saturday”.
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Replays showed that Payet received minimal contact from the defender, but Martin Atkinson, the referee, let the midfielder off without a second yellow card.
