Manchester United’s victory over West Ham will live long in the memory of spectators as they claimed a vital three points in the capital. Following a midweek disappointment against Young Boys, the triumph over David Moyes’ side will do Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad the world of good.
Said Benrahma’s deflected strike gave the home side an early lead but Cristiano Ronaldo equalised later in the half. The second half was uneventful up until the last five minutes when Jesse Lingard came back to haunt his former side.
The 28-year-old scored an 89th-minute screamer to give United all three points but David de Gea’s late penalty save trumps Lingard’s strike on the drama scale. De Gea had failed to save the last 40 penalties he’s faced, with the last stop coming in April 2016 against Everton – what a time to end that unfortunate run.
🗣 "You can't take risks when you defend."
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is critical of the defensive errors from Manchester United in the first half pic.twitter.com/98LuHOAfFI
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 19, 2021
Courtesy of Sky Sports/Football Daily
Read more: Jesse Lingard redeems himself: Player ratings: West Ham 1-2 Manchester United
Solskjaer will have been happy with his side’s ability to turn games around but the Norwegian manager was critical of his players in his post-match interview, as seen above.
“I think it’s always difficult coming here against a West Ham team that’s very well organized. They’ve not lost – they’re on their longest unbeaten run in the Premier League,” he said.
“We know we have to stamp our authority. I think first-half, 60-70% possession for us. Yeah, they get the first goal but still, I feel it’s a game that’s waiting to open up.
“A lot,” he said when asked if United’s defenders could have done more to stop the opening goal. “And that’s been spoken about. You can’t take rests when you defend. We dropped back into a back-six. Too many spaces, too late to charge the ball.
“We’ve already sorted and spoken about that at half-time so it was better second half. Great response, that was the big thing for me – how do you react when you go 1-0 down? Very, very good five minutes from us.”
