West Ham 2, Manchester United 1
A controversial VAR decision led to Manchester United’s fourth Premier League defeat of the season following an injury time Jarrod Bowen penalty.
Embed from Getty ImagesBowen’s late late goal came after Casemiro thought he had rescued a late point for the Reds after Crysencio Summerville had given the home side the lead in the 74th minute.
Things would have gone a lot differently for the Hammers had United taken one of several first half chances on offer at the London Stadium.
Alejandro Garnacho hit the crossbar while Diogo Dalot contrived to miss an open goal after lifting the ball past Lucasz Fabianski while Christian Eriksen’s corner ended up being headed against his own crossbar by Edson Alvarez.
Fabianski was called into action again in a first half dominated by the Reds as he acrobatically dived to stop a Casemiro header.
The Hammers improved after the break following a tactical reshuffle by Julen Lopetegui.
Rasmus Hojlund saw an effort saved by Fabianski but United fell behind after Crysencio Summerville’s scored his first goal for West Ham after poking home Danny Ings’ ball into the box after 74 minutes.
Casemiro headed home an equaliser from Joshua Zirkzee’s misguided header with 10 minutes to go as United had to throw caution to the wind.
But in injury time a controversial late VAR review requested by Michael Oliver saw on pitch referee David Coote award a penalty against Mathijs De Ligt for a foul on Ings – replays showed contact was minimal at best.
It was a decision that had Erik Ten Hag fuming after the game as he insisted it wasn’t a clear and obvious error by the referee.
But on the field Jarrod Bowen made not mistake from the spot and defeat left the Reds languishing in 14th place with Leicester City visiting Old Trafford this week in the Carabao Cup – a competition that takes on added importance to United.