West Ham’s Three Best Christmas Presents For Fans

West Ham 2-1 Manchester United (2007)

Only a year earlier West Ham showed that they could perform during the difficult Christmas period. Back when Manchester United was arguably one of the best clubs in the world and possessed talent such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, Edwin Van Der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, the list goes on.

West Ham, on the other hand, were recovering after the season of the “Great Escape” and were having an average season. Despite having beaten United in the final game of the previous season, many people were writing them off against the Champions. Especially as the team only had sixteen fit first-team players.

Like the game against Portsmouth, West Ham went behind because of a headed goal from future Balon D’or winner Ronaldo. The Portuguese star would then go on to miss a crucial penalty, which allowed the Hammer’s back into the game.

With only fifteen minutes to go the Hammers mounted an unlikely comeback. Anton Ferdinand scored the first goal, climbing highest to head home in front of his brother and former Hammer Rio Ferdinand.

With the scores tied at 1-1, West Ham went for the killer blow, and from a Mark Noble free-kick, they made the difference. Noble swung in a perfect delivery, and Matthew Upson, like Ferdinand, beat everyone to the ball and smashed his header into the top corner.