Louis van Gaal hails Manchester United spirit after forcing replay with West Ham and saving his season

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal praised the spirit of his side as they scored a late goal to earn an FA Cup quarter-final replay at West Ham and potentially save their season.

United trailed to a stunning Dimitri Payet strike before Anthony Martial equalised in the 83rd minute to give Van Gaal’s side renewed hope of ending the season with a trophy and potentially keeping the Dutchman in a job.

Van Gaal said: “When you have played against West Brom and lost and against Liverpool and lost, to come back like that is amazing.

“When you see the spirit of my team it is unbelievable. When you lose a game against Liverpool it runs very deep in the club.

“Then you have to play within two days against a very good team like West Ham, who have been preparing for this game for a week while we had to recover in two days, and found yourselves 1-0 behind. So to come back like that is fantastic.

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“I was very proud of my team and the fans were also very proud. I have seen a great match, an entertaining match. We are still in three competitions and I said to Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw, Ashley Young that you can still play the final.”

The injured trio will be fit by May but United – trailing Liverpool 2-0 from the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie and sixth in the Premier League – still have a long way to go to try and win the FA Cup for the first time since 2004.