FA Premiership
West Ham United 2-1 Manchester United 

Saturday, 29th December 2007
by Gordon Thrower

It was a most unusual day. Not three points against Man Utd – that’s fairly commonplace these days. Getting two goals from set pieces was fairly unusual I suppose but the single most amazing thing about the day was getting a result out of a match refereed by the single most incompetent and self-regarding referee in the league Mike “Not Trustworthy Enough For The Cup Final” Dean. Not that, as usual, he didn’t try to nause things up for us but at the end of the day this was a match that even the disgraceful Dean couldn’t ruin – in the end I think he gave up trying.



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Player Ratings

Robert Green
No chance with the goal but not really bothered otherwise. Will probably claim to have sent Ronaldo the wrong way for the penalty kick!


Lucas Neill
Good solid performance ?EUR" was pulled inside for the goal by Tevez who was otherwise anonymous ?EUR" which should give you some idea as to how good the defence was today.


George McCartney
Started off in his usual left-back position and finished further up in midfield. Apparently before this match he had the record for most throw-ins taken this season. The significance of this statistic eludes the writer for the moment.


Jonathan Spector
Generally solid though sticking his hand out in that girly manner gave Dean the excuse he?EUR(TM)d been looking for. Moved over to the left in the second half as part of the reshuffle.


Matthew Upson
Another stormer from the defender who couldn?EUR(TM)t get out of bed without injuring himself eleven months ago. If anyone deserved a goal it was him.


Hayden Mullins
I lost count of the number of times he got a vital foot in to stop a through ball. Ought to have scored though.


Scott Parker
Seemed to be doing ok until his untimely departure due to injury.


Nobby Solano
Unlucky not to have scored. Unlucky not to get a penalty. Unluckier still to do his hamstring.


Freddie Ljungberg
A fair bit of chasing about with little result as such. Which sums up his season really.


Mark Noble
Showed great character to recover from the early miss following Mullins?EUR(TM) effort that came off the bar. His delivery for the goals was superb.


Carlton Cole
Ran his legs off and held the line well. Gave the other Ferdinand brother an awkward time throughout.



Substitutes

John Paintsil
(replaced Solano, 49) Without a shadow of a doubt his best game in a claret & blue shirt. Was everywhere and fouls on him led to the first goal (indirectly) and the second (more directly).


Anton Ferdinand
(replaced Parker, 55) Fine performance defensively. Cracking goal up front.


Dean Ashton
(replaced Ljungberg, 70) A bit more running than of late but failed to cause too many problems.


Richard Wright
Did not play.


Henri Camara
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Robert Green, Lucas Neill, George McCartney, Jonathan Spector, Matthew Upson, Hayden Mullins, Scott Parker, Nobby Solano, Freddie Ljungberg, Mark Noble, Carlton Cole.

Goals: Anton Ferdinand 77 Matthew Upson 81                .

Booked: John Paintsil 58 Hayden Mullins 66        .

Sent Off: None sent off.     .

Manchester United: Kuszczak, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Hargreaves, Fletcher, Giggs, Tevez, Saha.

Subs not used: Heaton, Pique.

Goals: Ronaldo (14).

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Referee: M.Dean.

Attendance: 34,966.

Man of the Match: Matthew Upson.