MANCHESTER — Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s vision and Anthony Martial’s cool finishing helped Manchester United into the English League Cup semifinals as two of the team’s out-of-favor forwards showed their worth Wednesday.
United’s 4-1 win over West Ham at Old Trafford was illuminated by Mkhitaryan’s touch and eye for a pass in only his third start for the club since his high-profile move from Borussia Dortmund in the offseason.
The Armenia captain set up goals scored early in each half — by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Martial — before getting a standing ovation from United fans when substituted in the final minutes. By then, Ibrahimovic and Martial had each grabbed their second goals of a comfortable win that set up a semifinal match against Hull.
In the other quarterfinal match, Southampton beat a largely second-string Arsenal team 2-0 thanks to first-half goals by Jordy Clasie and Ryan Bertrand at Emirates Stadium. Southampton advanced to the semifinals of England’s second-tier cup competition for the first time since the 1986-87 season, and will now face Liverpool.
The semifinals are played over two legs in January.
United manager Jose Mourinho was absent from the dugout for the match after being handed a one-game touchline ban hours before kickoff, a punishment being sent to the stands against West Ham in a Premier League fixture at the weekend.
Mourinho was able to talk to his players before kickoff and at halftime, and was able to communicate with his staff on the bench during the game. One of his decisions was to send Bastian Schweinsteiger on as a late substitute for Martial, for the former Germany captain’s first appearance of the season.
United, Liverpool kept apart in League Cup
Old foes Manchester United and Liverpool managed to avoid each other in Wednesday’s draw for the semifinals of the English League Cup.
United was paired with Premier League strugglers Hull City.
Hull, which was promoted via the Championship play-offs at Wembley last season, saw off Championship leaders Newcastle United on penalties Tuesday.
Liverpool, 2-0 victors against second-tier Leeds United Tuesday, will face Southampton, who pulled off a shock 2-0 win at Arsenal Wednesday.
Nice regains top spot
Nice returned to the top of Ligue 1 as Younes Belhanda’s early goal downed Guingamp 1-0 away Wednesday while Paris St Germain moved above AS Monaco into second with a 2-0 home win over Angers.
Thiago Silva opened the scoring for champion PSG before Edinson Cavani converted a penalty for his 100th goal for the club.
Belhanda’s superb angled strike in the fifth minute at Guingamp was enough to hand the home side their first defeat in eight matches, as Nice overcame a recent wobble to reaffirm their title credentials.
Nice is three points ahead of third-placed Monaco, which conceded a late equalizer to draw 1-1 at Dijon Tuesday and were overtaken by PSG, now on 35 points after its 2-0 victory over Angers.
Fourth-placed Olympique Lyonnais responded to its weekend defeat by PSG by demolishing hapless Nantes 6-0 away, reducing the gap to third place to eight points.
Nancy thumped Eastern rivals Metz 4-0. — Agencies
