The Red Devils were away at the London Stadium against West Ham United today in the Premier League. West Ham are a well-coached side who are tough to beat at home due to a cauldron-like atmosphere, but United were expected to be victorious by most pundits beforehand.
But as is custom so far for United while on the road this season, they got off to a very slow start. West Ham had the better of the chances in the opening 20 minutes, with United not getting a shot on goal until the 24th minute via a tame effort from Cristiano Ronaldo. Bruno Fernandes did have the best chance of the match early on though when his shot towards the far post was just clipped the outside post. Luke Shaw forced a fine save out of Hammers keeper Lukasz Fabianski shortly after that with his low shot from distance.
The deadlock was broken on the half hour mark by West Ham however, after they worked an opening for a shot from distance by attacking midfielder Saïd Benrahma. The shot took a wicked and frankly unlucky deflection off United center back Raphael Varane, and it wrong-footed David De Gea in goal. He had no chance of saving it. The deflection is unlucky to be sure but that is the nature of the Premier League; you can’t let talented players have free shots on the edge of the goal. West Ham in the lead and United knew they would have a fight on their hands to win this one.
West Ham’s lead only lasted about 5 minutes though, as their goal seemed to shock United into life. All of a sudden Ronaldo was making more runs at the defense, and that’s precisely what he did when he levelled for United. Possession was recycled from a corner out to Bruno on the left wing, who spotted Ronaldo lurking at the far post. He played an excellent cross to him and Ronaldo made contact with his leg, but the shot was straight at Fabianski. The power of the shot though meant that Fabianski couldn’t hold onto it and the ball fell directly back into the path of Ronaldo. He finished the rebound with a tap-in for his 4th goal in 3 United matches since his return. Ronaldo’s striker instincts are second to none. He knows where to be, and he has the physical prowess to be able to get himself there. As a center-forward, sometimes all you have to do is just know where to stand and wait for the pass. Ronaldo does that extremely well.
After one or two more half-chances for West Ham, the half ended 1-1. Given the shaky start, United could feel confident about their odds of winning. Ronaldo’s answer really silenced the roaring home crowd. United should have had a second just after the re-start when United won the ball high up the pitch and a pass was played to Ronaldo in the box. Despite being through on goal, his shot was clipped by Fabianski and sent well wide. His finish was lacking, but again Ronaldo was in the right place at the right time. He should have scored though, and the look on his face indicated that he knew he should have scored.
The match slowed down after that, with both sides struggling to create good chances. West Ham seemed content with a draw, but United knew they had to keep pace in the title race given that Liverpool had already won. Despite a laboring half and hour so they kept the pressure on, and were after a long while rewarded with a late goal via substitute Jesse Lingard. Bruno played the ball to him on the left side of the box, and he cut inside on his right foot. From about 16 yards, he lashed a shot towards goal that found the top corner. It was truly a sublime finish after good footwork from Lingard. He did not celebrate due to playing for West Ham last season, but United had to feel they had their winner. Lingard did well to make amends for his horrendous defensive error in midweek that cost us the match against BSC Young Boys. A late goal that could potentially win it heals all wounds.
But the drama was not over, and this is where the 12th West Ham player I alluded to made his mark. Referee Martin Atkinson was the center of A LOT of controversy today, and he truly did an abysmal job. Ronaldo was on the ball in the box in the 92nd minute with the chance to finish it, but he was clearly fouled by a West Ham defender. Atkinson didn’t award a penalty though like he should have, he awarded a goal kick the other way. What the hell? What happened to VAR? Why was the replay not consulted? It was as stonewall a penalty I have ever seen missed by an official. Ronaldo got a touch on the ball, then he his leg was taken out by the defender. Textbook penalty any day of the week.
To further aggravate the situation, West Ham were awarded a penalty in the 95th minute after Shaw was adjudged to have handled an aerial pass into the box. His arm was indeed extended out, and under the letter of the new handball rule it probably was a penalty. But what really pissed everyone off was that Atkinson all of a sudden knew how to use the VAR system to check for a penalty. He didn’t award one initially, but he went over to the replay screen to check it! Why couldn’t he do that for Ronaldo’s penalty? Why was he told to check the West Ham penalty shout but not United’s? How does this system work? There is a VAR official, but what criteria is he using to judge whether something needs review or not? If the foul on Ronaldo was 50/50 or perhaps a result of Ronaldo making the most out of the contact, this would not be an issue. It was a clear-cut penalty though, so why didn’t the VAR official tell Atkinson to go look? Why wouldn’t Atkinson take the initiative to look himself? It reeks of incompetence at best and active collusion at worst. The integrity of the game suffers when shit like this happens.
West Ham legend Mark Noble stepped up to take the penalty. After a long delay he fired it to his right and high, but it lacked placement and De Gea got both fists to it for the save. De Gea saved his first penalty in several seasons and he showed why he should still be considered one of the best keepers in the world. He is United’s longest-serving player currently and sentimentally I am happy to see a bit of resurgence in form from him. I felt there was a little bit of football justice in the save as well. Ok, it probably was a handball from Shaw under the new rule, but West Ham’s foul has been a penalty since the dawn of the sport. They would have called it a penalty even in the 1960s if it was properly adjudged. Had we won 3-2 with both teams converting their penalties, that would have been a fair result. A 2-2 draw where we drop points because of a referee blunder would have been infuriating.
Well done to the lads for persevering through a tough match on the road. This one could have easily been more negative, but being slightly more efficient in front of goal won us this match. Man of the Match is Bruno for his two assists. I do apologize for complaining at length about the officiating because it’s usually poor analysis to just blame a ref for your team’s result, but I feel I have a little more leeway due to the fact that United still won. I am happy we got three points, but United should have been up 3-1 at the time of Shaw’s handball. Who knows if the handball would have even happened in the same way if the score had been different. Something must be done about Atkinson and the rules surrounding the usage of VAR.
Due to a scheduling oddity, United play West Ham again in midweek. This time they’re at Old Trafford though and in the League Cup (EFL Cup), a different competition. I expect both managers to rotate their squads heavily. The League Cup as a tournament is largely seen as not as important as the Prem. Both United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and West Ham manager David Moyes will have their eyes on the weekend fixture and won’t want to tire out their players. That match should be vastly different from this one.
United are now 3rd in the table. Level on points with both Liverpool and Chelsea, but with a smaller goal differential. Similar to the Wolverhampton Wanderers match earlier in the season, this feels like a game we would have drawn last season. The mark of a champion is the ability to win even when you aren’t playing your best. We should take pride in this result and use it carry on.
Glory Glory Man United!
4-4-2 