Manchester United progressed to the semi-finals of the 2016 EFL Cup on Wednesday as they saw off West Ham United 4-1 at Old Trafford thanks to braces from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial.

Ibrahimovic opened the scoring inside two minutes, but Ashley Fletcher levelled the score before the break.

Martial repeated Ibrahimovic's feat early in the second half and grabbed a second in the 62nd minute before the Swede netted again in injury time.

United dominated from the outset and created a number of chances, just as they did when they faced the Hammers on Sunday, but unlike in that match—which ended in a 1-1 draw—they were able to show their ruthless streak on Wednesday.

The hosts enjoyed an electric start when Henrikh Mkhitaryan raced on to a forward pass from Wayne Rooney before cleverly backheeling the ball into Ibrahimovic's path, and the Swede made no mistake as he finished past Adrian, as Sky Football showed:

Ibrahimovic almost doubled his tally five minutes later, when he picked up another searching through ball from Rooney and raced ahead, but Adrian stood strong in the one-on-one to make an impressive double save.

At the other end, Sofiane Feghouli should have done better when he led a counter-attack following a United corner, but the Algeria international dithered on the ball as the hosts recovered.

Martial also had an opportunity when United enjoyed a break of their own, but the Frenchman blasted his wild effort high, while Rooney tested Adrian again with a curling free-kick.

Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News hailed United's attacking efforts:

The next goal came for the visitors, however, against the run of play.

Dimitri Payet picked up the ball on the left before cutting inside, and goalkeeper David De Gea could only palm his effort into Fletcher's path, as Sky Football showed:

As football writer Liam Canning noted, the Irons' equaliser was indicative of their season:

The Red Devils went ahead once more two minutes after the break, when Mkhitaryan found space on the right and picked out Martial to fire home, via Sky Football:

The striker should have netted again when Rooney slipped him through on the left. But Adrian again reacted well to charge down the shot, and the Spaniard held firm when Ibrahimovic fired a free-kick his way soon after.

Martial had his brace before long, though, tapping home Antonio Valencia's low delivery, as Sky Football shared:

Ibrahimovic came close to earning his second when he controlled Mkhitaryan's cross and attempted to tuck the ball into the bottom corner, but Adrian made yet another outstanding save to deny him.

The 35-year-old would not be denied in the 93rd minute, however, when Ander Herrera presented him with the ball from six yards out after some excellent work on the left.

Bastian Schweinsteiger's late cameo was another highlight for Red Devils fans, perhaps hinting he still has a future at the club.

United need to show they can sustain this form over the long term to truly convince, but Rooney, Mkhitaryan, Martial and Ibrahimovic all impressed, which bodes well going forward.

If they can replicate Wednesday's performance in the semi-finals, they'll stand an excellent chance of reaching the final.

Post-Match Reaction

Per United's official Twitter feed, Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho was thoroughly pleased with his side's performance:

Meanwhile, according to West Ham's official website, manager Slaven Bilic rued the early goals in each half:

We can’t have a slow start against them because they are very good when they are one up. They have those kind of players.

After the slow start, we recovered and looked good but you can’t do the same. And we did. They totally deserved it then after that. You just can’t have that kind of a start in a game like this.

He added: "They are really good on the counter-attacks and all that but that happened to us in the first half and then we recovered and started to play after 25 minutes. They played with more energy and quality and a bit more passion."