I like to start these reports with a fun anecdote or passage. Maybe a feeble attempt at being clever. But after having to pick my daughter up from an event at her college at around 11pm, then waking up a few minutes before kickoff to inhale a coffee, I’m too damned tired. So here’s all I have;
Diangana got a place on the bench. That’s nice.
Whoa. No Cresswell.
And Arnie’s back.
More coffee please.
While this might sound a bit odd, for the first few minutes of the match we actually looked like the home side. We dominated possession, we pushed forward, and we asked a few questions. That has rarely happened at home against top sides of late. In the sixth minute, it all came together when Zabaleta saved the ball from going out for a Manchester United throw and got the ball to Noble. The Captain immediately sent the ball forward for Zabaleta, who got back up like he had springs in his boots. The steady as a rock right back sent a low cross to Anderson, who guided the ball behind deGea with the heel of his right foot. If a goal could be described as Brazilian, that was one. Replays showed a possibility of offside, but Nolan was onside at Old Trafford a few years ago so I really don’t give a toss.
West Ham 1
Manchester United 0
So many of us, me included, have predicted the end of Mark Noble. So in the 16th minute when Martial started a run that could have been the start of something dangerous a perfectly timed tackle by Noble put a stop to that. A minute later, West Ham’s ultimate nemesis Lukaku began one of his freight train runs at the Hammers defense. But the thing about freight trains is that if they hit a wall, they stop. We have a wall named Diop, and he stopped the train.
The fact was, however, that the visitors were coming into the game. And it was down the left at the expense of Masuaku. In the 23rd minute a cross from Young made it to Lukaku, but his header just missed off the outside of the post.
After the bright start, West Ham looked to revert to attempted balls over the top. Unfortunately they were no more than wings and prayers that ended up back in the possession of Manchester United. While our defense has looked solid of late, the flow of the match at the half hour mark was not something we would have wanted to live with for the last hour.
Manchester United won their first corner of the match in the 38th when a long shot by Pogba went off Balbuena. The delivery did nothing but create a second corner, and that one was eventually cleared by Masuaku despite a rather feeble attempt by Shaw to win a penalty.
Hey. I like flicks, trick, and dips as much as anyone. But to my eye, West Ham have tried too many of them this season in and around the eighteen yard box. And they have rarely if ever led to a shot on target. That lesson might have been learned in the 43rd minute when Arnautovic and Anderson tried a good old fashioned one-two in the box. The ball to Anderson was just inches off, but it led to a corner. Anderson’s delivery curled into the box like it was drawn on a telestrator. Diop’s header didn’t have anything on it, but the ball went to Yarmolenko. Despite the entire Western World knowing that unlike George Castanza (I wonder who will get that specific American TV reference) he only goes left, he moved to his left. His shot deflected off Lindelof and into the back of the net.
Halftime
West Ham 2
Manchester United 0
How many times have we seen West Ham win a corner and completely screw it up? To see another team do that, let alone Manchester United, was kind of amusing. In the 50th minute Young gave the ball directly to Noble from a corner in such a way that it even started a West Ham counterattack. With Arnautovic screaming for the ball, Noble gave it to Anderson who then sent it across to Arnautovic. But by that time Arnie looked to have lost the idea he had a second earlier and sent a wayward shot into the crowd.
The 58th minute put West Ham hearts into a defibrillation when Martial seemed to have no problem dancing around any number of West Ham defenders on the end line. He then attempted a pass that deflected off of Rice and across the face of goal before being cleared by Balbuena.
The 60th minute, or thereabouts, is the current witching hour for Arnautovic. That’s the point in recent matches he has grabbed his knee, or his ankle, or his ribs. So when he did it again today nobody could have been very surprised. The fact that he stayed on was possibly as surprising.
Moments later the visitors should have gotten a goal back. Fabianski had other ideas. Young sent a cross into the box that hit Fellaini right in the middle of his furry head. The header was powerful, and it was low. It should have beaten Fabianski. I think it would have beaten Adrian. But our new number one went down with a strong right hand and kept it out of the net.
In the 68th minute West Ham came very close to extending their tenuous lead…..come on, all of our leads tenuous….when Anderson tried to feed Arnautovic in the box but the pass just missed. Three minutes later the Manchester United goal that looked to be coming finally came when a Luke Shaw corner was flicked in by Rashford. While it’s fair to complain from our point of view that nobody was guarding the near post it was still a fine finish.
West Ham 2
Manchester United 1
The football world will try to kill off Mark Noble until he actually hangs up his boots. Today, he put in a deserved MOTM performance. While I’m not sure why every Manchester United player stood still in the 74th minute when Noble got the ball near the center of the pitch, thankfully Arnautovic kept moving. Noble saw the run, gave him the ball, and Arnie calmly rolled it in. And while I shouldn’t laugh at such things, Arnie thumping deGea on the back of the head after the ball went in definitely made me chuckle. I feel shame.
No. I don’t.
West Ham 3
Manchester United 1
As balls came into the box over the final 15 minutes, Fabianski came out to grab almost all of them. His command of his area is something we have been lacking for as long as I can remember. Robert Green had a couple of very fine years, but corners and crosses still caused stress. It’s almost as if I haven’t known the calm associated with a goalkeeper like that along with a young, tall, talented pair of central defenders. To me, that spine is what has turned us around and what could power us forward.
In the 93rd minute, Pellegrini rewarded the young Diangana for his exploits on Wednesday with a Premier League debut. I recall another youngster getting his debut against the big red machine at home, and I think it was also in the 93rd minute. He’s gone on to do quite well for us. Maybe history will repeat itself?
Final Score
West Ham 3
Manchester 1
Right before the final whistle, I got a text from my best mate Jon. “This is more about us than them, but the press will obsess about Man U in crisis”. At least here on NBC, that’s exactly what Robbie Mustoe, Robbie Earle and Alan Shearer (no clue why he was there) focused on. Rebecca Lowe even said it outright. But we were the deserved winners. Plain and simple. Maybe even more importantly was something Jon Champion said when he noted that The London Stadium sounded and felt a bit like Upton Park today.
If true, that’s as valuable as the three points.