West Ham United entertained Manchester United at the London Stadium earlier today as they looked to pick up a win at home without their star striker, Michail Antonio, who was suspended for this clash. The Hammers made a bright start to the game and took the lead at the half-hour mark courtesy of Said Benrahma’s deflected goal. However, Cristiano Ronaldo netted the equalizer for Man United just five minutes later with a calm finish from point-blank range as both teams went into the half-time break with a 1-1 scoreline.
The two sides canceled each other out for most of the second half. However, Jesse Lingard came off the bench to net the winning goal for Man United with a great strike in the 89th minute. West Ham were afforded a late lifeline as they received a penalty which Mark Noble failed to convert as the contest finished with the Hammers suffering a 2-1 loss at home.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham player performed during the match against the Red Devils.
GK: Łukasz Fabiański – 7.5/10
The Polish keeper made a number of good saves to keep his team in the game. However, he will be disappointed for not doing a better job saving Ronaldo’s initial shot in lead-up to Man United’s equalizer.
RB: Vladimír Coufal – 6/10
Coufal cleared his lines when needed and engineered one key chance in the Red Devils half.
CB: Kurt Zouma – 7/10
The French centre-back was a commanding presence inside his penalty area and made numerous clearances to keep the opposition attackers frustrated.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 6/10
Ogbonna was strong in the air but struggled to earn the ball back for his side. He won’t be pleased after conceding two goals today.
LB: Aaron Cresswell – 6/10
He made a couple of crucial clearances and was quite creative with the ball at his feet. Defensively, he was far from convincing and found it difficult to cope with Mason Greenwood’s pace at times during the game.
RW: Pablo Fornals – 5.5/10
Fornals engineered two good chances in the final third. but struggled to get a foothold in the game.
CM: Tomas Soucek – 7/10
He protected his backline with conviction and cleared the danger when called into action. Soucek struggled to influence the game in the final third.
CM: Declan Rice – 6/10
The English midfielder shielded his teammates well and was excellent with his passing. Still, he will be disappointed for not putting in a more influential display in the Man United half.
LW: Nikola Vlašić – 6/10
Vlasic was quiet for most of the contest and was guilty of missing a good chance to find the back of the net.
ST: Jarrod Bowen – 7/10
The English talent picked up an assist for setting up Benrahma’s opening goal. His pace caused all sorts of problems for the opposition centre-backs.
ST: Said Benrahma – 7.5/10
Benrahma was lucky to score with his deflected attempt. However, he was a constant nuisance for the Man United defenders.
Substitutes:
ST: Andriy Yarmolenko – 6/10
Yarmolenko struggled to get into the game.
CAM: Manuel Lanzini – N/A
He did not get enough minutes to warrant a rating.
CM: Mark Noble – N/A
Noble came off the bench in injury-time but missed the chance to salvage a point for West Ham after his penalty was expertly saved by David de Gea.
