West Ham United 2-0 Manchester United
West Ham delivered a hammer blow to Manchester United today with a deserved 2-0 win, thanks to two second half goals.
Boss Manuel Pellegrini has a habit of beating the Red Devils, and a goal at the end of each half lifted his team up to fourth place in the Premier League. For Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it was a setback after two wins over the last week. West Ham and Manchester United fans have plenty to be optimistic about, the Hammers have their best squad in recent memory, while the Red Devils have some talented young players. In the SBOBET Premier League world these two teams are in the chasing pack, but on this evidence West Ham are ready to compete, while OGS needs more time.
Highlights of the game
The visitors started the brighter, with Daniel James and Marcus Rashford linking up well, but the hosts coped well with the pressure. West Ham put their best early move together on 19 minutes with crisp passing, and when Felipe Anderson slid the ball infield to Andriy Yarmolenko, he got a curling shot away but into the arms of David De Gea.
Former Eintracht Frankfurt striker Sebastien Haller said he was excited to play in the Premier League following his £45m switch, particularly as he could play against his friend and idol Paul Pogba. But the World Cup winner was absent, though Red Devils winger James traveled to London with the squad and he did make a start. And, recovering from injury, the young Welshman was the victim of a nasty challenge from Issa Diop, who was lucky to escape a booking.
It was a first half of very few chances, but one came in the 35th minute when Mark Noble was fouled on the left touchline. Pablo Fornals chipped up a delightful free-kick which Noble met on the volley but he scuffed his shot and De Gea saved. And then, with the very first moment of real quality, the Hammers went ahead just before the break. Noble did well on the right and passed inside to Anderson and he flicked a first time ball through to Yarmolenko who turned and hit his effort low into the bottom left corner.
The Red Devils had been lackluster for much of the first 45, but they carved out a great opening at the start of the second. Andreas Pereira raided down the right and put in a superb cross, which Juan Mata met at the far post but he skewed his effort wide with the goal at his mercy. Manchester United looked livelier now, and created another good chance, this time Mata putting in Scott McTominay but his shot from a tight angle was easily gathered by Lukasz Fabianski.
The Hammers almost doubled their lead when Anderson played a lovely one-two with Yarmolenko before forcing De Gea into a smart save at his near post. The Red Devils then had a glorious chance from a corner but Harry Maguire shot straight at Fabianski.
Then came the Hammer blow to finish off the visitors. Ashley Young took down Noble, and accepted a yellow card. Aaron Cresswell had missed a free-kick in a similar position minutes earlier. He had his sighter and this time lined up his shot and curled a beauty into the top right corner.
Key Statistics
The pre-match West Ham vs Manchester United betting odds had the Hammers at 3.15 to win, but they were in control for most of the game.
Manchester United put in a dogged performance to edge out Leicester City last week but after a Europa League win over Astana on Thursday they looked tired and short of ideas.
It was only the Hammers third win over the Red Devils in 22 league meetings, but Manuel Pellegrini wasn’t surprised to pick up the three points; after all Solskjaer is the fourth Manchester United manager he’s beaten, after David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho!
What’s next?
Next up the Hammers have a midweek Carabao Cup third round clash away to Oxford United. The League One side will be full of confidence having just thrashed Lincoln City 6-0. Then West Ham heads to Bournemouth to take on Eddie Howe’s Cherries who have made an impressive start to the season with ten points from six games.
The Red Devils have two fixtures at Old Trafford now, first a Carabao Cup derby fixture against League One Rochdale, and then an old rivalry is rekindled when Unai Emery’s Arsenal heads to Manchester. The early Premier League 2019 results have left the Red Devils off the pace and the Gunners will make life difficult.
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