West Ham – Manchester United: Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood scored fantastic goals three minutes apart at the London Stadium as Manchester United came back to beat West Ham United 3-1 on Saturday.
Tomas Soucek had given West Ham a halftime lead, but the Red Devils fought back to deny David Moyes a famous result against his former club.
Bruno Fernandes had a hand in all three Red Devils’ goals, the last scored by Marcus Rashford, as the halftime sub changed the game and sent his side fourth on 19 points.
West Ham slips into seventh with 17 points.
West Ham – Manchester United was your classic tale of two halves, as the visitors snapped to life in the final 45.
Three things we learned from West Ham – Manchester United
1. The Portuguese Gretzky? If hockey assists were applied to the Premier League, Bruno Fernandes might have Wayne Gretzky numbers. Fernandes set up Pogba’s rocket equalizer with a terrific collection of Henderson’s long ball and a dribble to set up the Frenchman, but he played just as critical a role in two goals that will show up as Alex Telles and Juan Mata assists.
Fernandes zipped into traffic to chop a pass wide for Telles’ cross to Greenwood before knocking a clever pass back to Mata ahead of Rashford’s goal. Fernandes finished with seven key passes despite not entering the match until halftime. Yeah, we referenced hockey. It’s cross-promotion, y’all.
2. Henderson delivers in place of De Gea: We’ve seen Dean Henderson do plenty of wonderful things for Sheffield United in the Premier League, and the Man United academy man brought those to the pitch in London on Saturday. Henderson had four saves and played a curling 80-yard ball to Fernandes to set up Pogba’s equalizer. He couldn’t do much on West Ham’s goal, as Declan Rice’s flick at the near post wasn’t on frame but to the back post for Soucek’s finish.
3. West Ham fails to build cushion: West Ham gave Man United all of the bar but supplied all of the danger in the first half. It only produced one goal, as Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller could’ve easily had it a multi-goal lead at the break. Those fine margins are what will keep the Irons from keeping their high spot on the Premier League table.
Man of the Match
Fernandes. The halftime sub was United’s heartbeat and paintbrush.
Fernandes has *SEVEN* key passes in 41 minutes. The rest of #MUFC has combined for six over 86.
— Nicholas Mendola (@NicholasMendola) December 5, 2020
West Ham – Manchester United recap
West Ham started well and Dean Henderson was forced into a solid save when Pablo Fornalds cut a half-volley on frame.
Manchester United had plenty of the ball but really didn’t challenge the goal, while West Ham provided a lot of danger and looked the better money for a goal.
The opener came off a corner kick that was flicked to the back post, where Alex Telles and Paul Pogba were slow to react to Soucek’s back post work.
Sebastian Haller would’ve had it 2-0 when he darted past the back line, dribbled around Henderson, cut right to beat Maguire, but slipped to the turf and failed to get a shot away.
Man United forced a save out of Lukasz Fabianski through Anthony Martial just before halftime.
The Irons came close to double their lead in the 52nd, as a streaking forward Bowen won a header backward and went to the back post but missed a sliding effort to slot home.
Scott McTominay lashed a shot into the outside of the netting after a delightful Marcus Rashford dribble and nutmegged through ball onto the Scot’s path.
Pogba delivered the equalizer with a rocket finish in the 65th minute, as Henderson’s long clearance was collected by Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese dribbled across the top of the 18 before crossing for Pogba to smash home.
Man United made it 2-1 in the 68th, Greenwood taking down an Alex Telles cross with a great first touch and lashing home with his second.
Rashford made it 3-1 when Fernandes cut a ball out of the air to Juan Mata, who found the breaking Englishman for a finish past Fabianski.
Said Benrahma tried his luck with an audacious chip from the corner of the 18, but Henderson saw the ball sail over the goal.
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