Summary
You have to say that was a quite magnificent effort from West Ham. Depleted by injuries, they were the better side for most of the game, but dropped too deep once they had taken the lead. Kouyate’s excellent opener was a joy but you have to give United credit for coming back – this Van Gaal team is looking increasingly resilient – that’s just one defeat in 17 games – even if they do appear to lack a cutting edge at times.
Sam Allardyce has just said this in a post-match interview: “We couldn’t cope with long-ball Man United. It was thump it forward and see what you get.” Ha.
It’s as you were in the table: United are fourth – one point behind Southampton, one point ahead of Tottenham. West Ham remain in eighth, they are not out of the Europa League race just yet.
Thanks for your emails and tweets today. It was quite a game, we got everything I asked for in the pre-amble: a couple of goals and a red card. Lovely.
P.s. Regarding the most Premier League headed goals question I posted at half-time:
Magnus Lind: “I would guess its either Les Ferdinand or Shearer. Resisting the urge to Google I’m going to say Les Ferdinand played more seasons before the Premiership so Shearer has more Premiership seasons. And scored so many goals as well.”
Doremus Schafer: “Duncan Ferguson and Alan Shearer?”
You are half-right lads. But you’ve both forgotten about this guy …
44 - Peter Crouch has now scored 44 headed goals in the Premier League. Only Alan Shearer (46) and Dion Dublin (45) have more. Skulls.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 8, 2015
Goodnight!
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Full-time: West Ham 1-1 Manchester United
What a breathless end to the match!
RED CARD! (Shaw 90+3)
A second yellow for the left back! Hard to argue with, he completely mis-times his challenge on Downing, a definite yellow. Shaw looks distrought as he trudges off, Van Gaal sends Smalling on for Falcao as Man Utd look to plug the new gap at the back.
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Rojo tosses a hopeful ball into the box. Fellaini is under it, he can’t win the header but he does force Jenkinson to skew his header sideways across the box. It’s Blind that reacts first – hitting a left-footed shot into the corner. Adrian had no chance. Man Utd run back to the half-way line like a team that wants a winner. It’s not over yet!
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Manchester United (Blind 90+2)
Fergie time!
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90+1 min: Dangerous free-kick for Man Utd, after Tomkins wrestled Van Persie to the ground. Rooney is over it, it feels like something is coming here … nope! Straight into the wall!
90 min: Four minutes added here. Allardyce is furious.
89 min: Kouyate has been given the man-of-the-match. Solid at the back and great goal, hard to argue with that.
86 min: As Man Utd advance, they’re leaving gaps in behind. Downing dribbles with the ball down the left and somehow steers a low cross into the box. It evades everyone, about three Man Utd defenders just watched as Noble arrives on the end of it, powerfully sidefooting a shot straight at De Gea, who parries it away. He has once again kept Louis van Gaal’s side in it.
83 min: Shaw is the latest to go into the book, clattering Jenkinson, to give West Ham a much-needed breather. They need to give their defence a break.
82 min: Falcao turns in the box, and tees up Van Persie on his favoured left. It’s all power but not directed at the corner. Adrian saves with his feet, the ball safely flying into the stands. Good save. Jarvis comes on for Enner Valencia for West Ham
79 min: Chance for Fellaini. Under pressure from Van Persie, Adrian struggles to deal with a high ball. He punches it clear and looks in vain for a foul, and Fellaini arrives to try and nod the rebound goalwards, but he can’t keep it down: over the bar. Adrian is booked for time wasting on the goal kick. He’s not happy at that challenge from Van Persie either.
76 min: What a miss from Falcao! The Colombian does well to control a long ball into the path of Van Persie and Falcao collects the return ball. He’s clear, the ball is bouncing as Adrian advances, but Falcao gets his feet in a muddle and shanks it wide. That was awful connection on the ball, like Falcao had a Toblerone for a foot. He should have really hit it with his left, but tried with his right and mis-cued. Ryan Giggs slumps in his seat like a sulking schoolboy.
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74 min: Jenkinson sends a hopeful cross into the box. Enner Valencia gets up early but his header is no good. Still, the 25-year-old must have got three or four feet off the ground. What a spring. Salmon-esque.
72 min: Song is penalised for a foul on Rooney. He definitely gets a bit of the ball, and the subsequent yellow card issued by Clattenburg is probably a little harsh. It’s not clear as to whether the booking was for a succession of Song fouls, or his dissent as conceding the foul. Doesn’t matter really. Di Maria sends a shot careering over the bar from the resulting free-kick, 30 yards from goal. With Fellaini on, maybe clip that to the back post, Angel?
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70 min: Fellaini comes on for Januzaj. And the world continues to turn.
69 min: Another West Ham corner, another chance. This time it’s Enner Valencia (all 5ft8in of him) that gets up above Blind. He can only flick it on though, and the ball squirts through a crowd of players and out for a throw. Man Utd living dangerously.
67 min: Fellaini is warming up. As Januzaj sends a long-range effort high and wise from 30 yards out, I would bet he is the man to make way.
“Have United received any enquiries for Januzaj?” asks Kiran Kulkarni. “If PSG is paying anything around £25-30m, United hierarchy should think of a business especially if that amount can get you a Sissoko, Turan or even... an Adam Johnson..”
I can’t see the United faithful cheering Johnson, a former City player. United did indeed reject an approach for Januzaj in the summer, although I think it was a loan offer.
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63 min: Rooney mislays a pass inside his own half, and Downing pounces before he feeds the onrushing Jenkinson. The right-back curls a cross-shot to the back post which somehow manages to allude everyone. The man zipped inches past the post, with De Gea was in no-man’s land, whilst Antonio Valencia nearly turned it in to his own net and Diafro Sakho was lurking.
60 min: West Ham should make a substitution soon, but not one of their replacements has ventured from the bench. Their midfield is looking a little ragged at present, even if Utd are failing to capitalise. “Januzaj and Blind are failing miserably to be the link between the decent ManU defence and the attack,” bemoans Mark Turner. “I can’t shake off the feeling that LVG will still claim ManU to be a work in progress in the 17/18 season.”
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58 min: Shaw is the latest Man Utd player to burst forward, playing a one-two with Falcao. The left-back overruns the ball and Kouyate is able to clear. Shaw leaves his foot in and that’s a horrible collision, with both players feeling the pain. Kouyate comes off worst, it takes him a couple of minutes to get his bearings. Ouch.
56 min: Since the goal, West Ham have dropped very deep. Man Utd are having all the ball and Shaw cuts the ball back to Van Persie who this time lets fly with his left. It’s a brilliant block by Tomkins. Allardyce would probably prefer that his team don’t go into last-ditch mode just yet, but it’s increasingly looking that way.
53 min: Van Persie gets his first real sighter on goal: Di Maria floating a pass into the Dutchman’s stride. He takes one touch on his chest and wallops it with his right. It’s a narrowing angle, and the ball is right at Adrian, but the goalkeeper does well to hold the shot with Falcao lurking.
52 min: The more you watch that Kouyate goal, the better it gets. The audacity to basically do a couple of kick-ups surrounded by Man Utd defenders before smashing a volley in is mesmeric.
50 min: Man Utd claim for a penalty, Di Maria drilling a cross into the box, which skips up and hits Tomkins on the arm. It’s ball to arm, but you’ve seen ‘em given.
Another West Ham set-piece causes chaos in the Man Utd box. This time, Jones, Rojo and co aren’t able to clear. Instead Kouyate collects the second ball with his back to goal, juggles it once, juggles it twice and then smashes a volley which takes a slight deflection off Blind on the way through to deceive De Gea. What a piece of skill that was from the makeshift centre-back. Upton Park erupts!
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GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Manchester United (Kouyate 48)
It has been coming …
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47 min: Rooney has yet to make a real impression going forward, but he has been quite good in breaking up West Ham’s play in his new midfield role. He takes the ball off Downing and spreads the play superbly in the opening moments of the second half.
Peeeep peeep. We’re underway again at Upton Park.
West Ham may have scored more headed goals than any other team this season, but can you tell me which player has scored the most headers in the Premier League era? Peter Crouch is now third in the records, with 44 headers following his equaliser in Stoke’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle earlier today. Can you tell me who are the top two?
In lieu of goals, here’s some half-time entertainment.
Half-time: West Ham 0-0 Manchester United
Louis van Gaal’s side can count themselves lucky to go in at the break level.
Taking the positives from that first half from Falcao. Often stood quite near oppostion goal. Is also wearing appropriate studded footwear
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) February 8, 2015
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45 min: One minute to be added for injury time. Man Utd get another corner and this time take it short. Di Maria and Rooney playing a one-two to catch out Creswell. Di Maria bursts into the box, but can’t find the right pass. A promising position wasted.
42 min: The first sustained bit of pressure from Man Utd. Rooney and Antonio Valencia combining nicely on the right hand side. The cross is deflected behind but it’s a poor cross from Di Maria, he curls it onto the top of Adrian’s net. Rojo was also booked for that late challenge on Noble in the previous move.
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39 min: Song tries a backheel in the middle of the park, but Di Maria pounces on it and releases Falcao. That’s poor again from Song, and but for Kouyate’s pace in tracking Falcao, could have led to a much more dangerous situation. West Ham win the ball back and counter-attack. Mark Noble is badly fouled by Rojo (who was caught in possession) but Sakho gets clear and for a moment it is three on two! That’s an excellent challenge from Jones though, and the ball harmlessly rolls into De Gea’s gloves. Upton Park sighs, Rojo puffs out his cheeks in relief.
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36 min: Corner to West Ham after industrious work by Noble down the left flank. Once again, its a West Ham win in the box: of the five corners and maybe five more crosses the home side have tossed into the box, I would estimate that Man Utd have won the first header just once. They will surely lose this game if that trend continues. Imagine the chaos if Carroll was fit.
34 min: Penalty shout for West Ham: Enner Valencia falling to the deck after apparently colliding with Rojo. Replays show it was a dive, which certainly fooled me the first time around. Clattenburg was in a decent position though and doesn’t give it. If he doesn’t give it though, shouldn’t that be a yellow for Valenica. He deserves one for that.
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32 min: From the resulting free-kick, Downing curls a cross to the back post. Rojo gets himself in all kinds of bother, and completely loses Tomkins, who has a free header from six yards out! Saved by De Gea with his feet! Great reflexes, De Gea has made three brilliant saves already.
31 min: Another bad challenge from a Manchester man, this time from Jones on Enner Valencia. It’s a shocking challenge actually, Jones plunging his studs into the shins of the striker. No yellow, Clattenburg is being very lenient today!
29 min: Van Persie is flagged for a high arm on James Tomkins. He was competing for a high ball but he did catch the West Ham man with an elbow. He also had a little look over his shoulder just before making contact, which is a little bit incriminating. West Ham’s bench all jump up, and the Boleyn Ground are baying for blood, but Clattenburg just has a stern word. Booes unsurprisingly follow.
25 min: West Ham break immediately, Sakho releasing Enner Valencia who looks for a second to be in the clear, before Rojo gets back. Enner twists and turns to get a bit of space on the edge of Man Utd’s box, and lays it off to Sakho. Antonio Valencia makes a very risky challenge on Sakho inside the box, but it’s a good’un and Mark Clattenburg rightly waves away the protests from West Ham.
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24 min: Luke Shaw gets to the byline but is tracked all the way by the retreating Jenkinson. Both are exceptionally quick, that’s a battle to keep your eye on. Jenkinson deflects the ball behind for a corner, which is well claimed by Adrian.
22 min: A lull in proceedings as Enner Valencia gets some treatment. West Ham have been much the better side here. Van Persie and Falcao are being forced to come increasingly deep. Kouyate is yet to be really tested in his new centre-back role.
19 min: Antonio Valencia tackles Enner Valencia. Meta.
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16 min: Man Utd are forced to defend a succession of corners, some more desperately than others. Falcao gets a particularly telling touch to deny Tomkins again at the far post. I think the appropriate term is ‘under the cosh.’
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14 min: Another chance for Valencia! From the resulting corner, Kouyate wins the near post flick, Tomkins wins the far post knock down, and Valencia swivels to hit a skewed effort goalwards. Tipped over by De Gea, but the Ecuadorian would surely have scored if he got a clean connection on it. He was just six yards out or so.
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13 min: A hopeful ball from Song is tossed forward. Rather than clearing it, Rojo only serves to knock the ball down to Enner Valencia, who let’s fly from 25 yards. It’s a dipping, swerving effort, tipped behind from De Gea. He’s got a belter in his locker, Valencia, as he showed at Hull.
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@garynaylor999 @michaelbutler18 Sam's head alone, like that of Jeff Wode, must weigh 50 pounds.
— Alan Tyers (@alantyers) February 8, 2015
10 min: Corner to West Ham. It is very very noisy at Upton Park, from both sets of supporters. The home fans belt out: :”Diafro Sakho, he scores when he wants!” We’ll see.
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8 min: This time, it’s Man Utd who nearly shoot themselves in the foot. De Gea rolls a poor short goal-kick out in the direction of Jones but it’s not strong enough and the England man does well to desperately clear as Enner Valencia loiters. Close call, that.
6 min: Suicidal pass from Song! He’s had a poor start to this game. After collecting the ball inside West Ham’s box, he’s tried to play his way out of trouble but Van Persie intercepts and is inches from stabbing the ball past Adrian from close range. The pass to Jenkinson was never on, who would himself been under pressure from the oncoming Januzaj. Song holds his hands up, before helping to clear the resulting corner.
5 min: Downing gets half a yard on the left and whips a ball into the six yard ball. It’s claimed by De Gea but still, that’s a dangerous ball. You know he’s going to get the ball in early and it’s no surprise that West Ham have scored more headers than any other team in the Premier League this season – 14.
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3 min: Januzaj gets his first touch, and he burst past Song in the middle of the pitch. A quick trip from the Cameroonian and the Belgian hits the deck. A cynical foul, Song would surely have got a yellow for that if it wasn’t so early in the game.
1 min: Enner Valencia gets his first opportunity to stretch his legs. My word, I had forgotten how quick he is, searing past Phil Jones, who is no slouch. Sakho and Valencia should cause Man Utd all sorts of problems in behind today.
Peeep peeep! We’re off! Sky seem to think that both teams will be playing a 4-4-2 diamond, which I think is a fair assessment.
The teams are out at Upton Park. West Ham in their claret, Manchester United in white shirts. The West Ham faithful are bubblin’, so to speak. It’s on!
“Terrible Garment Choice? I’m not sure whether this qualifies but what I am sure of is that many would agree with me,” quips Achuth Vasudevan.
Whilst we are on Andy Carroll, he was in the pub that night with Nolan, surrounded by Peroni.
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Sam Allardyce has been speaking before the match:
We tried Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho on the front line earlier this season and they were very successful. Hopefully they can kick on here where they left off. They play a very patient game. They keep the ball a lot, which will challenge our concentration.
In response to the notion that trying to fit Rooney into Man Utd’s midfield is a bit awkward, Harry Tuttle has emailed:
“Square-peg, round hole? I’ll go for a round peg in a square hole, i.e. it’ll fit but it will rattle or stick occasionally.”
Another man that ties these two teams together is Ravel Morrison. The former Manchester United man today has had his contract at West Ham terminated “with immediate effect.”
It is interesting to compare/contrast Morrison’s career to that of Paul Pogba’s. Morrison, who was once described by Sir Alex Ferguson as the most talented player at United to emerge at the club since Paul Scholes, left for the Hammers in January 2012. Pogba, another outstanding talent, left for Juventus six months later. Pogba now has claim to be one of the world’s best, while Morrison made just 24 appearances for West Ham since his move. Yet the two could be seeing each other a little bit more regularly, Morrison is understood to moving to Serie A with Lazio.
The two are apparently still pals, and according to the Mirror, Ravel has asked Paul to give him a few tips to help him settle in in Italy. I would suggest: head down, nose clean, etc.
Kevin Nolan is West Ham’s captain for the day. This isn’t really related to the match, but my friends were in an east London boozer recently with Nolan, who was wearing these shoes. LOOK AT THE STATE OF THEM.
Have you ran into any footballers wearing any choice garments (preferably terrible)? Do get in touch, either via email michael.butler@theguardian.com or by Twitter @michaelbutler18. Photo evidence is welcomed/encouraged.
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Couple of things to unpick from the teams:
Firstly, I’m pretty sure enigma’s Louis van Gaal is playing a 4-4-2! As is Sam Allardyce which is perhaps less of a surprise.
Andy Carroll is sidelined for this one, which means Elliot Lee, another academy player off the West Ham production line is on the bench today. He has played just once for the first-team back in 2013 in which he came off the bench against Stoke for all of three minutes.
West Ham have a host of injury problems in fact. Regular centre back pair Winston Reid and James Collins are also both out, so James Tomkins comes in and Cheikhou Kouyate fills in. Should be interesting.
For United, Januzaj celebrates his 20th birthday with a Premier League start. Here’s what he’s had to say pre-game.
“I am enjoying playing a lot. I am coming back to my best, so I am happy to have some games in my legs.”
Can #mufc make it three wins in eight days? Louis van Gaal's men face West Ham at 16:15 GMT. Come on, Reds! pic.twitter.com/x91yyshmnM
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 8, 2015
Jamie Jackson recently wrote this piece on the young Belgian, which is well worth a read.
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Today’s teams:
West Ham: Adrián; Carl Jenkinson, James Tomkins, Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell; Alex Song, Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan (c), Stewart Downing; Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia
Substitutes: Jaaskelainen, Joey O’Brien, Oxford, Morgan Amalfitano, Matthew Jarvis, Carlton Cole, Elliot Lee
Manchester United: David de Gea; Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw; Daley Blind, Adnan Januzaj, Wayne Rooney, Ángel Di María; Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao
Substitutes: Victor Valdes, Chris Smalling, Paddy McNair, Marouane Fellaini, Ander Herrera, Juan Mata, James Wilson
Referee: Mark Clattenburg
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If you want to read more on Rooney, courtesy of Paul Wilson, you can do so here.
Preamble
It’s fair to say that Wayne Rooney has an interesting recent history with West Ham. He’s scored 10 goals in his last nine games against the Hammers including in this fixture last season, wher he scored one of the goals of the season at Upton Park. Earlier this season at Old Trafford, he celebrated 10 years as a Manchester United player by scoring a well-taken goal and getting sent-off for one of the best/most cynical fouls to ever have been committed in the Premier League era.
It is fouls like this that make you realise what a team player Rooney really is. That is the kind of selfless, Ole-I’m Gunnar-throw-myself-under-a-bus-for-the-greater-good spirit that makes him a winner and worthy of that £300,000-a-week contract.
Of course, being a team player is very much in vogue at Old Trafford these days. Louis van Gaal has even convinced the 29-year-old that he shouldn’t play as a striker. Very persuasive that Dutchman. Rooney is the new Darren Fletcher! The new Anderson!
He accepts that as captain he has to do something for the team,” Van Gaal said in the build-up to this afternoon’s game. “I don’t think I have ever heard him complain about it, in fact I think he likes playing in midfield because he is more on the ball.
Not so many players can easily switch positions but Rooney can, he is multi-functional. He does not like switching positions within a game; I moved him from midfield to striker once and he was not so good, but he can definitely play in more than one position. I have come across such exceptional players before. Edgar Davids was an extreme left-winger and I made him a midfielder. Michael Reiziger was a No10 who became a full-back and Frank Rijkaard was a No6 who played as a centre-half in my winning team at Ajax. I always look at the qualities of the player and decide where he can perform better for himself.”
Square-peg, round hole? Van Gaal simply trying to fit in all his best attacking players into a hitherto unknown formation? Or a tactical masterstroke? Seeing as Manchester United have played pretty meh this season, but are unbeaten in their last six away games and are still within a win of climbing into third place, I’m inclined to trust the Dutchman.
Get your kick-off, goals are red cards at: 4.15pm GMT
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