Marouane Fellaini: I knew Anthony Martial would miss

Belgian midfielder delighted to reach Cup semi-final

Fellaini starts to celebrate after scoring his goal

Marouane Fellaini’s game-reading credentials have occasionally come under scrutiny during his time at Manchester United but not anymore. The midfielder claims he saw into the future when scoring the second goal at Upton Park on Wednesday that ultimately settled the FA Cup replay against West Ham.

“I knew Anthony Martial would miss because it’s his left foot,” Fellaini said of his team-mate’s shot that he turned in. In fact, it was a right-foot shot but the Belgian was in the right place regardless. “I just put my knee there and tried to attack it and it went in. It was important. It is always nice to score. It’s a good vote of confidence, now we have a game on Saturday [against Aston Villa] and we have to win.”

Fellaini was impressed by Marcus Rashford’s strike that set United on their way to victory, a somewhat more impressive strike than his own finish. “It was a great goal,” Fellaini said. “I am happy for him at the moment, he is doing well, he is scoring goals and it is important for us and the team. It’s a real boost for us so we hope he will keep going and score more.

“It was difficult at the end against West Ham, because they put a lot of balls into the box and I think David [de Gea] did well, he saved a lot of goals and we won the game and everyone is happy.”

Fellaini has been involved in a Manchester United v Everton FA Cup semi-final before, back in 2009 when he was playing for the Toffees. “I am looking forward to the semi,” the midfielder said. “I was in the team then for Everton and we won so this time I hope I win on the other side. It’s something to look forward to. A club like Man Utd, we have to win something and I think all the players want to do that this season.”