West Ham 1, Manchester United 2
David De Gea was the hero after he saved an injury time penalty from Mark Noble as West Ham failed in a last ditch effort to snatch a point from their game against Manchester United.
Embed from Getty ImagesBruno Fernandes had hit the post before Cristiano Ronaldo equalised with a predatory finish after the Hammers had taken a deserved if unexpected lead through Said Benrahma.
Jesse Lingard put his midweek nightmare against Young Boys behind him and scored what eventually turned out to be the winner in the last minute of normal time just before West Ham won an injury time penalty after a Luke Shaw handball to earn a point but shockingly missed it.
United had already had three penalty appeals of their own on Ronaldo turned down, including a very good call for a shirt pull on the Portuguese front-man, before West Ham dramatically won one of their own after a VAR check.
But David De Gea saved from Mark Noble who had been brought on on specifically to take it after a wretched run of 3 misses from the penalty spot out of the last 4.
It was his first spot kick save in 40 attempts faced for club and country and the relief could not have been more palpable after the Reds further extended their unbeaten away run in the Premier League to 29 games.
Victor Lindelof, Donny van de Beek, and Jadon Sancho stepped down to the bench after the midweek defeat at Young Boys, with Raphael Varane, Scott McTominay, and Mason Greenwood starting at the London Stadium.
There was a minute’s applause for former England striker Jimmy Greaves who scored 13 goals in 40 appearances for West Ham while both sets of players wore black armbands after it was announced today that he had passed away at the age of 81.
After after a cagey start for both sides the Hammers had a golden chance to take the lead when Said Benrahma snatched the ball off Harry Maguire and set up Jarrod Bowen for a chance that was blocked by Raphael Varane after 17 minutes.
Bowen had another effort blocked by David De Gea with the follow-up blazed over by Tomas Soucek as the Reds reeled.
United created little, with Angelo Ogbonna headed away a cross by Bruno Fernandes as the Reds struggled in the rain.
Fernandes had a shot come off the near post after Luke Shaw’s deep out swinging corner reached him, while Shaw forced a save from Lucasz Fabianski.
West Ham take deserved lead but Manchester United continue to win away from home
The Hammers took a fortuitous but deserved lead after 30 minutes when Benrahma’s shot took a wicked deflection off Varane and totally wrong footed the Spanish ‘keeper – going in the opposite corner.
Ronaldo tried to level the game immediately but was denied by Kurt Zouma but he was not to be denied a minute later when he tucked home the rebound when his volley off Fernandes’ cross was spilled by Fabianski.
Not even a brief VAR check could dampen the Reds striker who extended his tally for the season to 4 with United’s 100th Premier League goal against the Hammers.
Ronaldo also forced a save out of Fabianski who didn’t spill it this time after Greenwood put him through while Nikola Vlasic clipped a shot over the bar as the game opened up.
Ronaldo was denied by Fabianski as United started the second half really well, blocking the shot from the striker after Fernandes had put him through, while Soucek had a shot saved by De Gea with Pablo Fornals turning the ball beyond the near post.
Scott McTominay took a ball to the face as the game meandered in the second half before both sides started to push for chances, with a penalty shout for Tomas Soucek turned down when Wan-Bissaka slid in on him.
A late change saw Sancho and Jesse Lingard come on for Greenwood and Pogba and Ronaldo tried to win a penalty by running into Vladimir Coufal which attracted the ire of fans, plus a couple of others later in the game including a strong claim after his shirt was pulled.
Fred was replaced by Nemanja Matic with the heading for a stalemate before Lingard popped up in the 89th minute with a goal to put United in front – holding his hands up apologetically to the home fans who he could nearly have been playing for – after a McTominay pass found him on the edge of the box.
Lingard cut inside an curled in his second goal in successive Premier League games – the first time he had done that since December 2018.
There was an injury time shout for penalty as Luke Shaw had an arm outstretched, and Martin Atkinson was asked to review his decision on the pitch side monitor – and he decided to award the penalty.
Bowen was withdrawn and Mark Noble was brought on in the 95th minute specifically to take the spot kick but De Gea guessed correctly, diving to his left to palm away high pressure kick and send the travelling United fans wild.
GOALS – West Ham 1, Manchester United 2
West Ham 1, Man Utd 0: 30. Said Benrahma’s shot from outside the area took a wicked deflection off Raphael Varane and wrongfooted David De Gea for a shock goal. #whufc #whumun #mufc
West Ham 1, Man Utd 1: 35. Cristiano Ronaldo tucked home the rebound after his initial volleyed effort from Bruno Fernandes’ cross was spilled by Lucasz Fabianski.
West Ham 1, Man Utd 2: 89. Jesse Lingard created space for himself by cutting in from the left side just inside the West Ham box before curling in a wonderful goal.
MATCH STATS – West Ham 1, Manchester United 2
West Ham: Fabianski, Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen (Noble 90+5), Benrahma (Lanzini 88), Fornals, Vlasic (Yarmolenko 68)
West Ham subs not used: Areola, Dawson, Diop, Fredericks, Masuaku, Kral
Goal: Benrahma 30
Missed Penalty: Noble 90+5
Man Utd: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Fred (Matic 88), Greenwood (Sancho 73), Fernandes, Pogba (Lingard 73), Ronaldo
Man Utd subs not used: Heaton, Bailly, Mata, Martial, Dalot, van de Beek
Goals: Ronaldo 35, Lingard 89
Referee: Martin Atkinson