27 October 2024
West Ham 2 Man Utd 1
West Ham locked horns with Man Utd in the capital. It has been a poor start to the season for both these sides and their respective managers were coming under pressure as a result. The fixture had that feeling that whichever side lost, their boss would be spending the next week talking about their future and whether they had the backing of the owners.
The visitors started well and a cross from Fernandes picked out Garnacho in the box. He hit a first-time shot which rattled against the crossbar with Fabianski beaten. It was a big chance for the Red Devils to make the perfect start to the game. The young Argentine winger gets himself into some good positions but shows the finishing ability of a very raw talent.
This was underpinned as the visitors played through the West Ham midfield once again. Garnacho was set free down the left and he used his pace to make a beeline for the goal. As he looked to bend one in the far corner, he got his effort all wrong and dragged it well wide. The game had barely got going but the visitors should have been two-nil up.
Rashford then clipped a cross over the top of The Hammers’ defence. Nobody was tracking the run of Fernandes and he had a completely free header in the middle of the goal. The Portuguese midfielder sent it flying over the bar, a terrible effort. Not really known for his heading ability, he still should have been making Fabianski work with that one.
Lopetegui’s side finally managed to create their first chance of the game. As they whipped a corner into the box, Paqueta rose to meet it with a free header. However, he could not keep his effort down and it failed to test Onana in the Man Utd goal. It gave the home fans something to get out of their seats for at least. West Ham were struggling to find their groove.
Then came the worst miss of the weekend. Fernandes played a sublime ball over the hosts’ defence. Fabianski had no choice but to come charging out of his penalty area to try to get there first. Dalot delicately lifted it over the keeper but then unbelievably smashed his shot towards an empty net into the stands. Ten Hag could be forgiven for buying a wig so that he had some hair to tear out at this point.
Towards the end of the first half, Eriksen swung in a teasing cross from a wide area. Casemiro got up well to direct it goalwards but Fabianski made a superb one-handed save to deny him. Kilman reacted quickest to clear the ball before any Red Devils’ player could slot home. Both sides went in at the interval deadlocked but the visitors really should have been leading.
Into the second half, ten Hag’s side continued to press. Rashford swung a deep cross into the box but Garnacho could only head into the side-netting. It was a tight angle for the Argentine but it just seemed another instance of Man Utd wasting their chances. Their manager’s future at the club was resting on this performance in the capital.
Garnacho then gave the ball away near his own goal when he really should have just punted it downfield. West Ham worked it to Antonio, who tried his luck from the edge of the box. His curling effort narrowly missed the far post with Onana at full-stretch. This was more of what the home fans were wanting to see from their team.
The visitors gave the ball away once again. Bowen looked to cross from the right and Ings looked to shoot but seemingly dragged it well wide of the target. However, Summerville was gambling and tucked the ball home at the far post to send the London Stadium into raptures. With just over fifteen minutes remaining, the deadlock had been broken.
Moments later a deep ball into the box was kept alive by Dalot. His header back across goal was met by Zirkzee. While his effort seemed to be going well wide, Casemiro headed home to silence the stadium. It seemed that Man Utd had grabbed a point late on in this game. The Brazilian’s header could well have secured the job of Erik ten Hag in the process.
West Ham came forward deep into added time and as the Red Devils’ box was packed with players, Ings went to ground appealing for a penalty. The referee was not interested at all but following a VAR review, they asked the official to go to the monitor. That only tends to lead to one thing, a change of decision. The visitors waited with bated breath.
Bowen stepped up and drilled his penalty into the bottom corner to give The Hammers the lead once again. Onana had gone the right way but the shot was hit with too much pace for him to be able to do anything about it. All the hosts had to do now was to hold on for the remainder of added time to get an important three points.
Julen Lopetegui’s side did just that and the result heaped more pressure on Man Utd’s Erik ten Hag. He walked off shaking his head, knowing his side had created enough chances to win two of these games. It proved to be the final swansong for the Dutchman as he was to be sacked by the club days later. This had seemed on the cards for about a year now in all fairness.
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