Match Review: West Ham attack and dominate wounded Manchester United

A confident swagger was felt across East London and beyond as West Ham were poised to “upset” a once scary Manchester United team. With everything to play for, West Ham looked motivated and hungry for the three points they claimed and earned.

With no real fear heading into this match, West Ham confidently lined up in as much of an unchanged team as could be expected. Masuaku was replaced by Aaron Cresswell due to red card suspension, and an injured Manuel Lanzini was subbed out of the line up for Pablo Fornals.

The first half of this game was a bit of a snore-fest. West Ham held onto the ball well and limited the Manchester United counter-attack, which the Red Devils relied upon to be their only source of offense all match long.

An early 14-minute yellow card by Angelo Ogbonna was the only notable action in the first half outside of a late West Ham goal. The Italian defender knew Pereira was going to blow by him on a counter-attack so he clattered him for the caution.

As the first end was coming to a close, a sustained West Ham attack saw Andriy Yarmolenko go unmarked on a run, allowing him to circle in behind the center-backs and get back on side. Noble picked out Anderson in the middle who flicked the ball over the top, springing Yarmolenko, who created separation with his first touch and buried on his second.

The goal was well earned as the Hammers sustained pressure extremely well. It was an ideal way of ending the first half and was used as a momentum shift to spur forward the attacking football.

The second half started at a rapid pace. Manchester United looked ready to pounce and motivated to press the West Ham backline. Unfortunately for them, West Ham’s defenders were up to the task and were repelling the attack superbly for the full 90 minutes.

The second goal came from a free-kick and was beautifully taken by Aaron Cresswell. He missed a previous kick from a similarily threatening position. Call it a test run (as West Ham did on Twitter), because in the 84th minute Cresswell banged a beauty past a diving de Gea.

The game ended with more Irons’ pressure and less than exciting football from Manchester United. It was, in the end, a dominant effort from West Ham. Fabianski was amazing when needed, but the game was decided by the Hammers taking their chances when they had them. Onward and upward, further into the top-6.