The news that Diafra Sakho would be lost for three months, or in Hammertime forever, certainly added a dark cloud to the ones he storm named Desmond had already brought to the north of England. But as much as I love our Sniper From Senegal, the cold light of day shows that he is as injury prone as can be. He missed the end of last season with his back problem, and this is his second spell out this year alone. Based on the evidence, nobody should be that shocked he’s hurt again. And while I am known to be a depressive, glass is broken and spilling Grand Cru Burgundy all over the light colored carpeting kind if supporter, I tried to approach the match today with perspective. I wanted Carroll on the bench with Zarate leading a quick, mobile attack. Slav didn’t get my text I guess, and that wasn’t to be. But Carroll starting as an alternative sure beat Carroll as the one to pin all of our hopes on with a lovely bloke named Carlton waiting to do what he could. The late news about Lanzini certainly added some undesired extra gloom, but it was so unexpected I had very little time to process it. As it turned out, I think we learned a lot of positives about our side today despite all of the bad news beforehand.
The opening minute of the match gave us our first chance to collectively gasp when Lingard broke down the left and fed Martial in the box. Tomkins slid in with a tackle that I was certain would lead to an opening minute spot kick for the hosts, but Tomkins made a top level defensive play and got all ball for a superb clearance. Moments later Lingard crossed to Fellaini who found McNair with a knockdown, but his shot went high over the bar.
Seeing a large, target man type of striker on a full rampaging run must be kind of scary to a defender. Like being on a safari during a stampede. In the 5th minute, Fellaini received a pass on the run at midfield and took off. But with both Mata and Lingard available, the Man With A Mane blasted a shot high over the bar. A few minutes later, Fellaini was back in his normal role as a target man when McNair sent a long cross into the box that seemed to hit Reid on the arm before it hit him on the head and went out for a corner.
West Ham should have taken an early lead in the 12th minute when Noble stepped in front on a Blind pass and sent Moses in on goal all alone. To his credit, DeGea is well known for being strong in such moments, and he was again when he made a leg save on a low shot. Moses should have tried to chip it over DeGea, but what do I know? I sell wine.
West Ham had to show defensive resolve and purpose in the 14th minute after Song was dispossessed by Martial, who then broke into the West Ham area virtually on his own. But up stepped Reid to force the newest Man U wonderkid wide, giving Song time to come back and atone for his error. Moments later, Lingard crossed to Fellaini, who then knocked it down for Martial. A clear shot on goal seemed a definite. But Reid put himself on the line and blocked the shot out for a corner that came to nothing.
The Hammers second “how did we not score there” moment came in the 22nd minute when Cresswell broke down the left and sent a low, purposeful cross that DeGea mishandled. Smalling reached around Zarate to clear and poked the ball off the post, and the rebound was out of Zarate’s reach. Two minutes later West Ham clanged the woodwork again, this time off a corner by Zarate that Reid attacked and got to first. But again, DeGea had nothing to do as his friend Mr. Lumber had it covered. Up to this point, the whole possession statistic was looking utterly meaningless with Man U having all of the ball and West Ham inches away from being 3-0 up.
“Where is Antonio?!?!” has been the cry on Twitter for weeks now. Well folks, you wanted him and you got him. And to be frank I didn’t complain. Weeks ago I said signing Moses permanently was my X rated fantasy. He’s down to PG-13 now. The announcer said he thought Moses was starting to come into the game and be influential. I thought Moses was wasting his time on the ball, running down dark tunnels to go with his missed chance. I would have wanted him subbed at halftime. Maybe I was wrong. Whatever. That doesn’t mean I wanted another injury obviously, and that’s what Moses picked up and immediately signaled to come off in the 36th minute.
Reputation can sometimes be as valuable as skill. Or detrimental. In the case of a guy like Diego Costa, breathing can appear like a hostile act. But Schweinsteiger is considered one of the ambassadors of the game. A true gentleman. That, in all likelihood, is what saved him from a straight red in the 42nd minute when he clearly threw his forearm and elbow into Reid’s neck while waiting for a free kick. Clattenburg had a word with both players, and even the West Ham players seemed a bit subdued in their protests. “Nah, he wouldn’t do that on purpose”. He did, and he should have been off.
West Ham broke on the counter after the free kick was taken, with Noble feeding Antonio. But the young man from The Forest had his pass into the box picked off and the break ended before it could really start. Moments later, Mata pushed Cresswell from behind earning West Ham a free kick from a dangerous area. Zarate, however, sent it right at DeGea and that was the final meaningful moments of the first 45.
Halftime. Manchester United 0, West Ham United 0.
There has been a lot of debate surrounding Carl Jenkinson, and boy has the subject changed. It used to be whether or not he was worth the money Arsenal reportedly want for him on a permanent basis. Now it’s whether James Tomkins, a center back by trade, should replace him at right back on a permanent basis. In the 49th minute, Tomkins made yet another case for himself. Schweinsteiger evaded two defenders as he broke into the West Ham area. He passed to Fellaini, who looked to pass to an unmarked Lingard but Tomkins won the ball before the pass could be made.
I like Mauro Zarate, and I am willing to forgive the frustrating moments for the magical ones. At least that’s how I feel now. He came close twice in a matter of minutes but couldn’t put the needed bit of quality on the ball at the moment of truth. First, in the 54th minute he led a counter on the left. Cresswell cut into the box, drawing Smalling to him and opening up space for Zarate to attack. He cut to his right and fired a low shot that didn’t trouble DeGea. Two minutes later, Zarate absolutely should have given West Ham the lead when Carroll flicked an Antonio cross behind the Manchester back line and into the path of Zarate. I know DeGea is one of the best in those spots, but Zarate had to score. He had to at least make DeGea do something. He did neither and put the ball wide.
A few minutes after that, the tide of missed chances turned. Martial broke into the box, and found Fellaini alone in front of Adrian for what should have been an easy finish but Adrian got his fingertips to it and kept it out. Minutes later Carrick, Fellaini and Mata combined with some lovely and pacey work, but the final delivery by Mata went wide.
Manchester United supporters likely jumped out of their seats again in the 80th minute, thinking a winner was there, only to slump back down and shake their heads. Depay (No way I’m calling him Memphis. I save such one name stuff for those that deserve it.) broke down the left and carved the West Ham defense open. He found Martial open in the box, but his low shot rolled wide of an open net. Moments later Depay won a free kick off of Ogbanna, and while Fellaini won the header for a knockdown Lingard put his shot high over the bar.
The Hammers didn’t completely sit back and try to protect their point. In the 84th minute a poor delivery on a corner allowed Noble to break on the counter. It was a moment like that where we missed Payet, Lanzini, or anybody with any semblance of speed. Noble was brought down by Carrick before he could find Antonio down the right, and such a pass might have led to a serious chance. Instead it led to a forgettable free kick. Minutes later Zarate earned West Ham their final chance to find a winner when he won a free kick off of Varela just outside the Manchester United area. His whipped in attempt was punched out of danger by DeGea.
In added time, Antonio showed he can and will track back on defense. Furthermore, he showed he can make a well timed challenge inside the penalty area. At Old Trafford. Where many well timed challenges have been magically turned into penalties. The ensuing corner fell to Smalling but his shot was blocked.
Final Score. Manchester United 0, West Ham United 0.
The announcer here said “there are nil-nils, and then there are NIL-NILS. This was a NIL_NIL." Two years ago my best mate was in London for what could have been used here in the USA by people who make fun of the greatest game on earth because of the nil-nil scoreline as their Poster Child Match. The dreadful scoreless draw against Sunderland at Upton Park. It was as bad a ninety minutes of football as I had ever seen, and I didn’t travel thousands of miles to see it. Today, we played more than well enough to win in a fixture where we are used to closing our eyes and praying for it to be over as soon as possible. Much has been said about the new strength in depth, and how the injuries would show that to be a false dawn. To the contrary, it showed we have moved past the days of Carlton Cole, Joey O’Brien, Matty Taylor, and Nene. Finally, Andy Carroll was quite good in my opinion and should have been credited with a wonderfully placed pass for what should have been the winning goal. This as a game that could have created a lot of upset, maybe even panic, had we come out and lumped our way to a dismal 3-0 defeat or something.
Instead, it may have shown that the maturity and growth as a club we have been longing for is possibly at hand.