Report | Teams | Highlights | Post-Match Reaction
West Ham 1 Manchester United 0
David De Gea marked his record-breaking 540th Manchester United appearance with a huge blunder that handed the victory to West Ham and sent United closer to another season of Europa League football. His mistake completely changed the game’s momentum, and United never recovered.
United had started well and spent large periods of time camped in the West Ham half, albeit without scoring. Chances were being created, and it seemed inevitable that United would eventually convert one of them. When teams push forward and dominate possession so completely, counter-attacks happen, and after a couple of missed tackles, Benrahma found himself running towards the goal. Surrounded by three defenders, he took a speculative shot from distance. It should’ve been a routine save for De Gea, but although he got a full hand to it, he still somehow let it beat him. The goal deflated United and gave West Ham something to hang onto for the rest of the half.
West Ham came out for the second half and were the better team by some distance. United looked like they were out of energy and ideas. Even when they had sustained possession, it was slow, ponderous, and always in front of a well-organised West Ham unit. An equaliser for United would’ve been lucky. The only time they looked likely to score was in the eight minutes of stoppage time added for an earlier head injury to Wan-Bissaka and Soucek, and even then, it was a frantic, disorganised mess.
United are currently circling the drain and in grave danger of dropping out of the top four and down to Europa League football. They look fatigued, and their away record is atrocious. Fortunately, they have almost a week to recover before a home game against Wolves on Saturday. Win that, and they can regain some momentum for the rest of the season.
Teams:
West Ham:
Fabianski, Kehrer, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Benrahma, Antonio.
Subs: Johnson, Fornals, Lanzini, Downes, Areola, Cornet, Ings, Emerson Palmieri, Anang.
Manchester United:
de Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Shaw, Malacia, Eriksen, Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes, Antony, Weghorst, Rashford.
Subs: Maguire, Martial, Sabitzer, Fred, Dalot, Sancho, Butland, Williams, Garnacho.