Louis van Gaal is either lucky or has a magic touch.

The under-fire Manchester United manager saw his side book their place in the FA Cup semi-finals after a hard-fought win at West Ham

Louis Van Gaal

Louis van Gaal has a remarkable knack of getting a result just when he needs it most.

On Wednesday night it kept Manchester United in the FA Cup and offered Van Gaal yet another stay of execution as the Dutchman continues to limp on.

It was not exactly convincing, hardly inspiring and yet Van Gaal has got United to Wembley and they are now just 180 minutes from winning a trophy which could keep him in a job.

You can think back to various points of the season and Van Gaal has always got a result when he needed it. Against Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Midtjylland and now West Ham.
In pictures - West Ham 1-2 Manchester United:

 

Van Gaal is either incredibly lucky or, to actually give him some credit, his years of experience have given him a magic touch which may win him the FA Cup and even get him in the top four.

And just when you think the players may not still be playing for him, you get heroic performances in huge victories.

The most unlikely was from Marouane Fellaini who scored and was a menace throughout with a marauding midfield display as he bullied West Ham.
United keeper David De Gea once again produced incredible saves, his best in the dying stages as finally West Ham produced a late fight back even though it was too little, too late by then.

And the best goal of the night was from 18-year-old Marcus Rashford who, almost everyone else, has been his salvation this season.
Rashford’s opener in the 54th minute was a goal of the highest quality, his run and then precision shot changed the course of the cup tie which had, until then, been rather dull.
It was surprising because West Ham, despite all the fanfare and talk of it being the last cup tie at their famous old ground, looked flat, almost leggy after their recent exploits.

Maybe it was one build-up, one too many cheesy Ray Winstone videos on the big screen talking about it being the end of an era at Upton Park.

Marcus Rashford scores the first goal for Manchester United

Rashford celebrates with his team-mates

We can do without that, thanks very much. West Ham fans do not want fanfare, they just want silverware and, after a season which has promised so much under Slaven Bilic, they may end up disappointed.
West Ham’s top four hopes are fading and they just could not summon up another big performance to knock United out of the cup.
Dimitri Payet was disappointing, Andy Carroll ineffective until they started lumping it at the end and United thoroughly deserved it overall.
They defended well, showed their quality after the restart and completed the job to set up a showdown with Everton.

source:Mirror/uk