West Ham of “old man” David Moyes is quite a favorite opponent for MU, but in the context of declining performance and exhausted physical strength because of constant competition, the “Red Devils” had to accept defeat as a guest. of The Hammers within the framework of round 35 of the Premier League 2022/23
Final result West Ham vs MU (1-0)
Score: Benrahma (27′)
The bitter last minute loss to Brighton has pushed Man Utd into an extremely dangerous situation in the race to the top 4. In theory, coach Erik ten Hag’s team is still taking advantage of many advantages, but in practice it promises to be. much more brutal with the Red Devils.
Main rival Liverpool is reviving strongly with a streak of 6 consecutive wins and don’t be surprised if The Kop keep that record until the end of the season. Thus, if they want to be sure to stand above Liverpool, MU is said to need to win at least 9 more points from the remaining 6 matches – the task is not simple considering their current performance.
The upcoming opponent, West Ham, is thirsty for points in the relegation race, so of course, he does not dare to relax his mind. The past three consecutive defeats once again pushed teachers and coaches David Moyes into a corner. Moreover, the British military leader always has special emotions and high determination to win every time he confronts his old team MU.
Compared to the loss to Brighton, the incumbent captain of the “Red Devils” – Erik ten Hag made 3 adjustments in the starting list. Specifically, Malacia replaced Diogo Dalot as a left-back, Eriksen returned to the midfield to pair with Casemiro, meaning Fred was back on the bench and Weghorst was on the attack instead of Martial.
MU entered the game much better, although Wes Ham was the team that advocated the attack. In less than 10 minutes of the first game, the visitors made 3 dangerous shots that, if more accurate, it is not certain that Fabianski can block. In the 17th minute, Rashford led the ball from the left wing into the center before swinging the stretcher to the near corner but could not win the post.
However, when everything was under MU’s control, they were conceded again. In the 27th minute, Benrahma led the ball from the middle of the field to close to the penalty area and launched a shot, the ball went quite light but went relatively opposite and De Gea was partially defeated due to slow reflexes.
Minutes later, Antony tried to handle the ball in the middle and then launched a tight shot that if the ball had not grazed the foot of a West Ham player, it would have been on target. Long shot is also MU’s only goal in the first half, but they rarely penetrate deep into the opponent’s penalty area.
At the beginning of the second half, the home team increased the pressure to score more goals to decide the game. So MU had to stretch himself to support and could not implement the plan to reverse the situation. In the 50th minute, De Gea’s net shook again, but the referee determined that Antonio had made a mistake with the Spaniard, so the goal was denied.
The more you play MU, the more weak you are. It is clear that “Red Devils” are showing signs of being out of breath and running out of cards at the end of the season. Even coach Erik ten Hag was powerless with the changes in personnel that could turn the tide when Martial, Sabitzer or Sancho were introduced to the field and made no difference.
In the 73rd minute, MU’s net vibrated for the third time in the match, but there was still no second goal for West Ham because the finishing player (Soucek) was determined to have fallen into an offside position. Exactly until the 77th minute, MU had the first remarkable situation in the second half when Bruno Fernandes gave Rashford the opportunity to finish in a tight corner but failed to win Fabianski.
At the end of the game, Martial coordinated with Rashford before breaking through the middle of the opponent’s circle, unfortunately the French striker’s final finish could not win Fabianski. In the end, MU could not turn the tide and had to receive the second defeat in a row with the same score of 0-1. Although still in the Top 4, but now coach Erik ten Hag’s teachers and students are only 1 point ahead of Liverpool (5th) although there is still a game in hand. If they do not improve their performance, MU will likely be absent from the Champions League arena like last season.
WEST HAM vs MU TEAM
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Fabianski; Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna, Nayef Aguerd, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta (Downes 90’+5), Said Benrahma (Fornals 87′); Michael Antonio (Johnson 90’+5).
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-3-3): David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Dalot 87′), Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia (Fred 88′); Christian Eriksen (Sabitzer 74′), Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes; Antony (Sancho 74′), Wout Weghorst (Martial 57′), Marcus Rashford.