Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
David McDonnell

Erik ten Hag reveals what he told Alejandro Garnacho before late Man Utd FA Cup heroics

Erik ten Hag hailed teenage sensation Alejandro Garnacho for the stunning late strike that sent Manchester United into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Garnacho scored with a sublime curling effort in the 90th minute to put United ahead against West Ham, with substitute Fred sealing the win with a third goal in added time. United, fresh from Sunday's Carabao Cup final triumph, will host Fulham for a place in the semi-finals at Wembley, with Ten Hag full of praise for match-winner Garnacho.

"I saw today another step from him," said Ten Hag. "I told him before the game, 'you have an impact when you come on, but now you need to have impact as a starter'. I think he's capable of it and that's the next step he needs to take."

Ten Hag also hailed Garnacho's courage and said: "That is one of his skills. It's a great skill when you're fearless, when you're brave. He's one of the players that I think has a skill that is so specific. There are not many players in world football you take players on, who are capable of just going at players and out-dribbling them.

"But he has more skill than that, for example, finishing. He also has a big engine. He's fast, he has speed and he can keep running for 90 minutes or 120 minutes."

Beaten West Ham boss David Moyes was left to bemoan two missed chances from striker Michail Antonio and said: "We played well but we blew it. We could have got a second goal and when we didn't we had to make sure we didn't concede. We ended up giving away two ridiculous goals. We had two great chances and to end up the way it did was really disappointing."

Have your say! Will Man Utd win the FA Cup? Give us your prediction in the comments section.

Alejandro Garnacho's late goal helped Man Utd book their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals (PA)

Harry Maguire, meanwhile, was much more upbeat, as United's captain told MUTV: "It was tough to go down but we had the belief that we'd go on and win the game. As a defender, we just knew we couldn't concede the second goal, that was so important, and when you don't [we know] we've got big talent in this squad to change games.

"We knew we had to progress in the FA Cup and to stay in all competitions is our aim and we've done it. It [being relentless] is what the best teams do. I'm not saying we’re one of the best teams, there's lots of improvement needed to get to there, but we're getting there.

"We're making strides forward, we've got a philosophy and we play to it. You've seen in the second half; it felt like the Stretford End was sucking that goal in, it was an amazing second goal especially by Garnacho."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.