Premier LeagueWest Ham United 2-1 Manchester United
Saturday, 26th October 2024
by Chris Wilkerson | Forum match thread
It was a much better weekend for West Ham United as they took all three points from the London Stadium, beating Manchester United 2-1 and seeing an end to the Ten Hag tenure.
A victory looked more than improbable following a first half in which The Hammers were frankly appalling, but a triple change and a little bit of luck saw Julen Lopetegui's side take victory in stoppage time, thanks to a Jarrod Bowen penalty.After Crysencio Summerville scored his first West Ham goal to give his team a precious lead in the second half, the hosts were left clinging on to a point as Casemiro headed his side level with nine minutes to play.
In a wild finish, it was West Ham who came out with the winning goal, De Ligt fouling Danny Ings in the penalty area, and VAR intervening to send David Coote to the sidelines and the VAR screen, the referee eventually giving the penalty after a long delay.
However it came, this was a much needed win for a side that had been torn apart last weekend by Tottenham. From 17th at the start of play, The Hammers moved above Manchester United on goals scored to finish the day in 13th, seven points clear of Ipswich and the relegation places.
The manager rang the changes after that hammering last weekend, with Todibo, Soucek and Areola dropped in place of Mavropanos, Alvarez and Fabianski, whilst Carlos Soler came in for the suspended Mo Kudus.
From the get-go, West Ham were easily opened and consistently exposed by a Manchester United side in desperate need of a win. They must have thought they had found the perfect opponent. In a first half of horrors, West Ham went through all their hapless hits of the season. Before 120 seconds had even been and gone, the post had been rattled.
This one came from sloppy play from the midfield, although it was actually Guido Rodriguez in the left back area. The Argentine tried to pass into midfield, but only found an opponent. Within an instant, it was into the feet of Garnacho in the West Ham box, and the forward was unfortunate to see his effort fly past Fabianski, only to cannon back off the bar and away.
Garnacho was soon in again, this time a single pass exposing space left behind the right back. Alvarez chased on his tail, but never got close, and would have been delighted to see his opponent open up his body in the box, only to place it too wide of the post to bend back in and find the back of the net.
Minutes later; Garnacho had again exposed space left behind the advancing Wan-Bissaka to threaten. This time, he squared into the box for Hojlund, who beat Kilman smartly, only to find Fabianski at his feet to block the striker's poke at goal.
But the danger wasn't over. A poor clearance returned the ball straight back to the away side, and as a cross was clipped in from the right, nobody in a West Ham shirt tracked Bruno Fernandes gliding into the box. The Portuguese midfielder, who orchestrated his side's first half, met the ball well from 12 yards out, but powered his header over the bar.
It was an opening 15 minutes that highlighted the three major problems that have plagued Lopetegui's version of a West Ham team in most of the games he has managed: poor and loose use of possession in midfield and an inability to handle the transitions; imbalance of the team resulting in regular exposure of the space behind the full backs, mostly on the right; failure to track midfield runners.
The mess of a start was a preview of the whole half. Soon Rashford was in on goal as a ball from the back found him behind the defence, but a tricky bounce caught the out-of-form forward out, giving Fabianski the chance to block at the edge of his box.
The Hammers were really only able to find space for Wan-Bissaka, which begs the question whether this tactical tool is working as intended. If the goal is to create space for a player, why is it a defensively-minded full back? And considering both his strengths at the back, and the amount of time his runs forward are quickly exposed, is it worth the risk?
By the 28th minute, West Ham had had their first shot, a header over the bar as Paqueta met a Soler corner. It was about the full tally of their contributions to the game.
Then came the best chance of the game, and a comical miss. This is Christmas VHS-worthy, the kind of gaffe you'd see on a tape presented by some tit like Robbie Savage.
Diogo Dalot had made a run from right back that nobody halted. With Fernandes 20 yards inside his own half, he saw the movement and pinged another pass over the West Ham defence. Dalot ran onto it, flicked the ball over and around the onrushing figure of Lukasz Fabianski, and only had an empty net to find as the ball bounced down in the area.
10 yards out, with two defenders running and lunging towards their own goal line rather than pressuring the finish, Dalot let it sit at a nice height and tried to slam it home, but instead managed to hit his effort both over and wide of the goal.
Soon, even West Ham players were seeing how long the luck could sway in their favour as Edson Alvarez got up in front of Fabianski to flick on a Manchester United corner at the front post, turning to see the ball glance off the crossbar and away to safety.
On the stroke of half time, it was the recalled goalkeeper who Hammers had to thank as the 39-year-old was at full stretch to keep out a Casemiro header. The Brazilian had found himself free to head in at goal from eight yards out after Eriksen clipped in a lovely freekick, but Fabianski got his left hand out and extended at the fullest to make the save.
The away side could lay claim to at least five fantastic chances, and all seven listed here was high quality, whereas West Ham, at home to beleaguered opposition, had not even managed that many touches in their opponent's penalty area (6).
Lopetegui had to react, and the three substitutions he made were about as little as he could do having been presented with that first half. Todibo, Soucek and Summerville were ready and on for the start of the second half, replacing an injured Mavropanos, and the disappointing duo of Paqueta and Soler.
Whilst the first chance of the half fell to the visitors, it took 10 minutes to see anything of note happen, and it was a boon to see the holes filled at the back. Garnacho failed to meet a cross at the back post, but a minute later Antonio had got onto a Summerville flick into the box to fire wide. Where the home side couldn't push their guests back properly in the first half, now there seemed to be a threat to answer to theirs now.
West Ham United were just a much better outfit with Summerville's pace and running, and the solidity in the middle that Soucek's hard work and physicality offer. Whether the manager realised it so explicitly or not, it was clear that West Ham could threaten a weak Manchester United defence with fewer numbers, and thus be able to plug gaps further back.
With Soucek getting up and down, The Hammers still had his figure making late moves forward, and winning those big headers from long clearances, but a defensively capable body in the middle.
Just after the hour mark, West Ham had their best chance of the game so far. Antonio used his pace and strength to push to the byline. The striker fired a low ball into the heart of the box, just as Emerson darted across his man on the edge of the six-yard box. It was unfortunate for all in claret and blue that the delivery from Antonio was just half a step behind where Emerson could control, and he failed to get much of a flick on it with his right, not even pushing it toward goal.
Still, 20 minutes into the half, West Ham had had 14 touches in the opposition box. Their first half tally at six was already blown away.
The manager moved again, and it was a fourth substitution that improved his team. Lopetegui may have already got more performances out of Danny Ings than his predecessor, because Ings made an impact for Antonio. Three minutes after he stepped onto the pitch, he had a fortuitous assist.
It came from West Ham stepping up and pressing into the Manchester United half. As Ten Hag's team tried to play out, Guido pounced on a loose pass and instantly passed to Soucek. The football was great. First touch to Soucek, first touch Soucek to Todibo, and the defender quickly played wide to Bowen.
The West Ham captain had had a below par game until this point, but when his team needed him, it was Bowen who provided.
He squared up his man and then rolled a pass in front of Ings in the penalty area. The striker had dashed towards the near post and tried to strike it across goal, only to slice his finish weakly to the far post.
It rolled into the six-yard box, in front of goal, just needing a touch. Who had the pace to get to it first? It was the Dutchman who had added so much impetus, Summerville poking it home from a few yards out to score his first West Ham goal. He sprinted to the bench, whipping off his shirt and eventually finding Kudus to celebrate with.
With 15 minutes to play, you'd hope momentum would now carry the side to a victory, but the team seemed to hit nerves, and now they were sitting off again.
Fabianski soon was called into action, a dangerous cross onto Hojlund's head was flicked on by the striker. Thankfully, a sharp Fabianski was right there, having rushed out to block.
The pressure did tell. With numbers camped in the box, a cross from deep round the run to the back post down the left. He headed back into the middle, where Zirkzee met it, headed it at goal, and headed it right to Casemiro, who nodded it home from a few yards out. The two teams were level again as we got into the final 10 minutes.
And there was more drama to come. For two of the most underwhelming teams so far this season, it felt suitable for a messy penalty to be what the difference was.
The ball dropped down in the box and both Ings and De Ligt went for it. Neither made contact with the ball, but replays definitely showed him kicking Ings.
The striker went down, and after a delay, David Coote was sent to the VAR screen. Another two minutes later, he makes a decision. De Ligt has made contact, a penalty is given.
Two minutes after it was given, the captain stepped up to take the penalty. Low and hard, it flew down to Onana's left. The goalkeeper went the right way, but he had no chance. It rifled inside the post, into the side netting and West Ham had a stoppage time lead.
This time, West Ham looked secure in defence. Cresswell was thrown in, making his 500th career league appearance.
There was still one chance, but it felt to Emerson as the wing back burst forward. Into the box at an angle, he blasted at goal and forced Onana into a blocking save.
The away side put the pressure on, but they couldn't find a gap to exploit. As the referee blew his whistle after a Fergie-esque 12 minutes were added on, it was the United fans celebrating, West Ham United.
Manager?EUR(TM)s Rating
Julen Lopetegui: 6/10 A bad selection to begin with saved by very good substitutions. The same problems, but at least he fixed them within this game.
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Click to view all West Ham United vs Manchester United match reports Click to view all match reports by Chris Wilkerson Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Click on any player's name to view their full KUMB bio, including all historical match notes and ratings/10.Lukasz Fabianski
A fantastic return, Fabianski took the shirt and made it his again with some brilliant saves and decision making.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Got into the space that the system provides him, but also constantly saw his position and right back spot left open for wide attackers. Not sure he?EUR(TM)s a good enough attacking outlet to be worth making space for.
Emerson Palmieri
Neat and tidy, but failed to convert two big chances.
Konstantinos Mavropanos
A solid comeback, and it?EUR(TM)s unfortunate he was injured. Having got his place back, it was soon gone again and Todibo then played well.
Max Kilman
A rock, but he is going to need to do better at seeing runs into the box and reacting, especially on crosses.
Edson Alvarez
His busy energy is a necessity in a quite pedestrian midfield.
Guido Rodriguez
The odd sloppy moment aside, his positioning is generally good, even if he?EUR(TM)s often being asked to do far too much.
Carlos Soler
The Spaniard is having no impact on this team and looks a fair poorer player than Ward-Prowse.
Michail Antonio
A first half where he tried but failed to make an impact was followed by a strong 20 minutes, and he went off just as he had got into it.
Lucas Paqueta
It?EUR(TM)s not working, whether that?EUR(TM)s down to him and his situation, the management of the team, his relationship with the new manager or a combination of all. Needs to change his position or just watch from the bench for a while.
Jarrod Bowen
Struggled for a half, maybe an hour, but delivered when it was needed. It might just be that he was seen as the biggest threat, as he did seem to be doubled up on regularly.
Substitutes
Crysencio Summerville(Soler, 46) Changed the game. All the subs worked, but his pace and determination to impress just sparked the side into life.
Tomas Soucek
(Paqueta, 46) Not flashy, not a massive impact on the ball himself, but does the things the West Ham midfield needs, which is basically being a bit of everything with a good workrate.
Jean Clair Todibo
(Mavropanos, 46) Unlucky to be dropped but responded well when called upon.
Danny Ings
(Antonio, 70) Another good cameo, his technical ability made a difference over Antonio, and just the movement in the box caused issues.
Aaron Cresswell
(Rodr?-guez, 90) n/a
Match Facts
West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Emerson Palmieri, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Max Kilman, Edson Alvarez, Guido Rodriguez, Carlos Soler, Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen.Goals: None.
Booked: None booked. .
Sent Off: None sent off. .
Manchester United: .
Subs not used: .
Goals: .
Booked: None booked..
Sent off: None.
Referee: .
Attendance: 0.
Man of the Match: .