Hammer falls on Old Trafford

When you defeat high-flying Crystal Palace in London and host relegation struggling West Ham the next week, three points are expected. Even coach Ruben Amorim said that this is the game which Manchester United ‘must win somehow‘. And they found an unexpected scorer – Diogo Dalot, who have the Red Devils the lead, but what happened next was the same old Manchester United, who failed to finish things and score the second goal, allowing the Hammers to take a point after scoring in the 83rd minute from their first shot on target in the second half of the game. What is even worse is that United didn‘t have a clear chance after the opening goal in the 58th minute. West Ham will continue to struggle with a perfomance like tonight and any other club would be already 3-0 up but not United. Manchester were clearly a better team with more chances and they didn‘t deserve to lose two points, but Premier League is a tough competition.

Manchester had two penalty shouts in the opening ten minutes. Amad broke into the box and went down inside the area following a challenge from Fernandes but the referee didn‘t react. Amad was the main actor the second time as well. He squared the pass to Fernandes, who was about to shoot but was stopped by the sliding challenge of Soucek. Mbeumo had an opportunity in the 24th minute but Areola stretched to tip it over the bar. And then Manchester missed two sitters in the same attack. Amad fired a cross into the box and Zirkzee was there to direct it towards goal but former Red Devil Wan Bissaka cleared it with his head off the line. The ball falls to Fernandes on the rebound but his effort grazed the post before spinning out of play.

But the aggressive and offensive display of the Red Devils paid out in the 58th minute, although with a bit of luck. The ball came to Casemiro who took a shot from afar but the ball touched somebody and changed direction, landing at Diogo Dalot‘s feet in the penalty area. The Portuguese defender had the quickness and presence of mind to shoot quickly and United took the lead. But instead of pushing even more in order to score the second goal and secure the win, the Red Devils did nothing and allowed West Ham to raise. The guests got a bit more forward but still failed to secure a shot on target until the 83rd minute. Irving swinged a corner and Bowen flicked the header towards goal before Mazraoui cleared it off the line. The rebound failed perfectly to Magassa in the box and he scored his maiden West Ham goal at Old Trafford and secured a vital point in relegation battle.

PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 14

Tuesday

Bournemouth - Everton 0-1 (0-0)

/Grealish 78/

Fulham - Manchester City 4-5 (1-3)

/Emile Smith Rowe 45+2, Alex Iwobi 57, Chukwueze 72, 78 - Haaland 17, Reijnders 37, Foden 44, 48, Berge 54 (og)/

Newcastle Tottenham 2-2 (0-0)

/Guimaraes 71, Gordon 86(p) - Romero 78, 90+5/

Wednesday

Arsenal - Brentford 2-0 (1-0)

/Merino 11, Saka 90+1/

Brighton - Aston Villa 3-4 (2-2)

/Van Hecke 9, 83, Torres 29 og - Watkins 37, 45+7, Onana 60, Malen 78/

Burnley - Crystal Palace 0-1 (0-1)

/Munoz 44/

Wolverhampton - Nottingham Forest 0-1 (0-0)

/Jesus 73/

Leeds - Chelsea 3-1 (2-0)

/Bijol 6, Tanaka 43, Calvert-Lewin 72 - Neto 50/

Liverpool - Sunderland 1-1 (0-0)

/Mukiele 81(og) - Talbi 67/

Thursday

Manchester United - West Ham 1-1 (0-0)

/Dalot 58 - Magassa 83/