Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is confident that his team can do a job against West Ham in their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Upton Park, after the original tie between the two sides ended 1-1 today.

As with most games this season, Manchester United looked comfortable on the ball in the first half, but did very little with it to threaten Darren Randolph’s goal and had no shots on target before the break. West Ham looked the more threatening team on the break, and had the home side’s defence on edge.




The pattern of play continued in the second half, with Manchester United dominating possession, and West Ham looking the team more likely to score at Old Trafford. Dimitri Payet broke the deadlock with a sumptuous free kick from 35 yards, but many felt he should have been shown a second yellow card for simulation inside the penalty box just a couple of minutes before.

Manchester United increased the tempo of their passing after conceding, and their pressure finally paid off when Anthony Martial met Ander Herrera’s cross in the 83rd minute to equalise.
 


However, West Ham finished the game looking stronger with a succession of corners, and David de Gea played a huge role in taking the tie to a replay when he saved from a booming low shot from Michail Antonio in the dying minutes of the game.

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Carrick admits that they couldn’t do much about Payet’s free kick, but despite failing to work Randolph much in the West Ham goal, he believes his side did enough to fight back in the FA Cup tie.

While he has conceded that the Hammers are a quality team, he is confident that Manchester United can make it to the semi-finals by getting a result in east London in the replay.

Carrick told the BBC: "We went behind to a terrific free-kick, you can't do much about that, but we deserved to get back into the game.

"We were creating pressure but getting shots on goal was lacking and we need to improve.

"West Ham are a good team and have some terrific talent. It is an even game and we will go down there thinking we can get through.

“We have big games coming up, so we have to be ready and finish the season strongly."