Man Utd 3 West Ham 0
Erik ten Hag’s side faced West Ham at Old Trafford on the back of a morale-boosting late victory at Molineux in midweek. The Hammers sat above United in the league table before kick-off, not something Red Devils’ fans are used to.
It was the anniversary of the Munich air disaster and the hosts hoped to commemorate it with a win against David Moyes’ side. West Ham had the first chance of the game as Soucek’s header deflected off Alvarez, but Onana reacted to make the save.
Rashford almost weaved his way through The Hammers’ defence but Zouma slid in and put it out for a corner. The centre back caught his own keeper in the head with his follow through, but he seemed fine to continue after some treatment from the physio.
As the resulting corner was worked to Fernandes outside the box, he checked onto his right foot and let fly for the top corner. Areola reacted well and clawed the effort away from goal. It was a fairly routine save for the keeper in all fairness.
Credit: @ManUtd
Hojlund then received the ball some way out, dummied a shot and dropped his shoulder to glide past the disjointed West Ham defence before driving the ball into the bottom corner. It was a great strike from the youngster who was celebrating his birthday in style.
Moyes’ side were struggling to get the ball to Bowen enough but when they did, he took it down brilliantly before picking out Kudus in the box with his cross. The winger’s header did not have enough power on it to beat Onana in the United goal.
Garnacho received the ball from Fernandes and held it up well, before spotting the run of Hojlund on the overlap. The Danish forward ran into the box and got a shot away but dragged it well wide of the goal from a tight angle.
It seemed all was not well with Areola as he was replaced by Fabianski at half time. Then came a pivotal moment of the game. Maguire was dispossessed of the ball by Emerson who charged into the box with the goal at his mercy. He sliced his shot so far wide, the defender hung his head in shame.
He had options in the box but when you decide to go it alone in that position, you have to be at least making the keeper work. It was a huge chance for the visitors to capitalise on Harry Maguire’s error. Weirdly, the Man Utd defenders were high fiving each other after the shot went wide.
Bruno Fernandes then played a ball to the back post to find Garnacho. The Argentine cut inside and shot but his effort took a huge deflection off Aguerd to wrongfoot Fabianski and nestle in the back of the net. Not that anyone of a Man Utd disposition was complaining.
Credit: @ManUtd
The young winger then had the cheek to sit on the advertising boards like he had scored some worldie rather than the reality that it was a sketchy deflected goal. It gave the Red Devils some breathing space nevertheless.
Ward Prowse went on a mazy run into the hosts’ box before unselfishly laying it on a plate for Emerson. The full back could not get the ball from under his feet, as he scooped a tame effort straight at the Man Utd keeper.
Alvarez then played a sublime ball over the head of Maguire, who seemed to get shorter as he jumped, onto the chest of Bowen. As he ran through into the penalty area, it seemed certain he would score. Just as he pulled the trigger, Dalot slid in to brilliantly block the ball and save a goal.
Kalvin Phillips lost the ball on the halfway line and McTominay broke. He laid it off to Garnacho, who swept the ball past Fabianski to put the icing on the cake for Man Utd. It was a comfortable win for the Red Devils, which took them above West Ham in the table.
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