Premier League
West Ham Defeat United At London Stadium
A curling first half strike from Andriy Yarmolenko and a superb free kick by Aaron Cresswell helped West Ham defeat Manchester United at home for the second season in a row.
Manchester United’s defeat means their dreadful away form in the Premier League continues. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side haven’t won away in the Premier League since February.
To compound a miserable day, Marcus Rashford was forced off injured midway through the second half leaving United with no recognised strikers.
Rashford’s injury adds to a growing list of absentees, which includes Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw all of whom were missing for the game against West Ham.
That will be a big worry for Solskjaer who’s startling lack of squad depth is now being truly exposed.
For West Ham, they weren’t at their best but took their chances when it came and are now up into the top four ahead of Arsenal’s game against Aston Villa.
Moment Of Quality Gives Hammers The Lead
It was a very tentative start from both sides. The only shot on goal in the first 15 minutes was from Nemanja Matic, which was comfortably saved by Lukasz Fabianski in the West Ham goal.
Both sides had good spells of possession without creating any clear cut chances.
On 36 minutes, West Ham worked a clever free kick. A chip by Felipe Anderson found Mark Noble on the edge of the box. However, his volley was comfortably saved by David de Gea in the United goal.
Just before half time West Ham took the lead. Felipe Anderson flicked the ball into the path of Andriy Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian then superbly curled his shot into the net.
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be frustrated with how his side failed to close down first Anderson then the shot from Yarmolenko.
Cresswell Free Kick Seals Win For West Ham
Three minutes into the second half, Manchester United should have equalized.
Scott McTominay played the ball out wide to Andreas Pereira. The Brazilian then played a great ball across the penalty box, which found its way through to Juan Mata at the back post.
However, the Spanish international fired his shot over the bar when he really should have scored.
On the hour mark, Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford was forced off with a thigh problem and was replaced with Jesse Lingard.
With Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood out injured for this game, it left United playing the last 30 minutes with no recognised striker.
Manchester United had a great chance to equalize after 68 minutes. A corner swung in eventually fell to Harry Maguire inside the box. His shot from close range was parried away by Lukasz Fabianski in the West Ham goal when he should have scored.
With seven minutes to go, West Ham sealed all three points. A brilliant curling free kick from 25-yards-out from Aaron Cresswell was fired into the top corner of the net. United keeper David de Gea got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out.
West Ham saw the game out comfortably to secure a second home Premier League win in a row.
Can West Ham Challenge For Europe?
There is no doubt that this is the best West Ham side for many years.
They have quality players such as Declan Rice, Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko.
Also, they have a vastly experienced manager in Manuel Pellegrini.
There is no reason why West Ham can do what Wolves did last season and challenge for a Europa League spot.
Given the starts to the season by Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, there is no reason why West Ham could challenge for a top four finish.
The fear factor that the above forementioned sides has disappeared. If they can show some more consistency, West Ham have quality to trouble a lot of teams in the Premier League.
Problems Mount Up For Manchester United
This was a horrendous day for Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The lack of effort in the first half was nothing short of disgraceful. They were so lethgaric, stood off West Ham and didn’t appear up for the fight.
They improved slightly in the second half but the lack of quality in the squad is quite astounding.
Yes, United were missing the likes of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw and Mason Greenwood. However, with a side like United you would expect them to have the strength in depth to cope.
However, at the moment they don’t.
An injury to Marcus Rashford midway through the second half, left United without a recognised striker for the last 30 minutes.
Selling Romelu Lukaku in the summer isn’t the problem. The problem was not replacing him.
United needed more than just three new signings. They needed at least five or six.
The board’s failure to bring these players in, has left Solskjaer with a squad lacking in depth and quality.
It has now got to the stage where West Ham arguably have a stronger squad than the Old Trafford side.
That simply shouldn’t be happening. The only people to blame for this are the board and Chief Executive Ed Woodward who have wasted money on hopeless players.
The sooner they are driven out of the club the better for Manchester United.
Next up, for United is a Carabao Cup tie against Rochdale at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, are away to Oxford United also in the Carabao Cup.
Written by David Coates
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Photo credit to West Ham via Twitter
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