Manchester United 1-0 West Ham United (Rashford 38′)
Marcus Rashford scored his 100th Manchester United goal to earn his side a narrow victory over West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The 25-year-old had the best of the chances in a match which was light on quality and entertainment, seeing a right-footed shot deflected over the bar and a header saved by Lukasz Fabianski before crashing an emphatic header beyond the Pole from Christian Eriksen’s pristine cross towards the end of the first-half.
In the second period Cristiano Ronaldo spurned two quick-fire opportunities to double the lead, but United held on to take victory in a game where neither team played particularly well overall.
West Ham were often the home side’s equals but ultimately didn’t offer enough threat in the final third despite building up plenty of pressure as the clock ticked towards 90. Their best chance came when Jarrod Bowen saw a goal-bound shot blocked just before full-time.
The result means United rise to fifth in the Premier League table, one point behind Newcastle in fourth, while West Ham remain 13th.
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Man Utd player ratings
David De Gea – Had precious little to do for the vast majority of the match but made a trio of great saves from Antonio, Zouma and Rice as the visitors pushed for an equaliser. 7/10
A GREAT save by David De Gea
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 30, 2022pic.twitter.com/ttnI3AC81N
Diogo Dalot – Found Rashford with a gorgeous cross early in the first-half and was impressive with his delivery from then on. Had little help from Elanga defensively but did well against the lively Benrahma and excelled clearing a succession crosses into his far post in the second-half. Stringing together some very impressive performances now. 8/10
Harry Maguire – Was left for dead on the halfway line a couple of times in the first-half, ultimately being bailed out by his fellow defenders. Better in the second-half defending crosses. Not a bad performance by any means but looked a weaker link between Dalot and Martinez at times. 6/10
Lisandro Martinez – Held off the likes of Bowen and Benrahma with great strength early on in the match and gave very little change to any West Ham player from there. Has settled into the Premier League brilliantly after a couple of ropey early performances, and led United by example from the back here. 8/10
Luke Shaw – The majority of West Ham’s attacking threat came down the other flank, so had much less work to do than Dalot but was relatively assured throughout. 6/10
Casemiro – Not at his controlling best here in front of watching Brazil national team boss Tite, but helped defend the penalty area well in the final moments as West Ham launched in cross after cross. 6/10
Christian Eriksen – Took one quick glance into the box and then picked out Rashford wonderfully for the opening goal. Struggled a little with the physicality of Soucek and Rice and didn’t have a huge influence on most of the game. 6/10
Anthony Elanga – Had a cross fall to him at the back post towards the end of the first-half and hit a volley so bad that it swerved away towards the corner flag and stayed in play. Very quiet aside from that until he was withdrawn. 4/10
Bruno Fernandes – Pretty anonymous display from the Portuguese, who seems to be losing relevance in a United side which looks more to the likes of Eriksen for creativity and Rashford/Ronaldo for goals these days. 5/10
Marcus Rashford – Simply the most dangerous player on the pitch. Looked up for it from the get-go and showed great movement throughout. Full value for his goal and to hit 100 at age 24 for a club which has been in disarray for years is a superb achievement. 8/10
RASHFORDDDDDDDD!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 30, 2022
What a ball and what a headerpic.twitter.com/DpZaLKoU6Z
Cristiano Ronaldo – Had two real chances, both within a minute just after the hour mark, and spurned both very poorly. First was headed far over and the second a shot sliced wide of the near post as he carried the ball into the penalty area. Didn’t contribute to too much link-up play aside from that. 5/10
Substitutes
Scott McTominay – Came on for Elanga in an attempt to give United more control of the game, but his introduction coincided with West Ham’s best attacking spell of the game and he had no discernible positive impact. Caught Zouma with a late boot in the penalty area but survived a VAR check. 4/10
Fred – Replaced Eriksen to form a three-man defensive midfield as Erik Ten Hag tried to shore up the score line with just over ten minutes to play, but like McTominay struggled to help much. Headed against the post a few minutes before the end. 5/10
West Ham player ratings
Lukasz Fabianski – Could do nothing about Rashford’s goal and had little else to do before being substituted at half-time due to injury. 6/10
Thilo Kehrer – Slalomed through the United defence brilliantly to create a chance for Bowen in the first-half was ended up being offside. Lost out far too easily to Rashford for the opener, barely even jumping for the ball at the back post. 5/10
Craig Dawson – West Ham’s most threatening player, worrying United a few times with his presence and movement from set-pieces but unable to fashion a real effort on target. Defended well for most of the game. 6/10
Kurt Zouma – Made some impressive interceptions on occasions when United were looking to break forward, and kept Ronaldo pretty quiet alongside his partner. 6/10
Aaron Creswell – Didn’t get forward to support Benrahma enough, who was creating space with his running which was not capitalised upon. Had little defending to do against Elanga. 5/10
FULL-TIME! The Manchester United team all celebrate with David De Gea after that 𝙋𝙃𝙀𝙉𝙊𝙈𝙀𝙉𝘼𝙇 last minute save
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 30, 2022
Declan Rice – Looked to carry the ball forward as much as possible to move his team up the pitch but lack of movement around him meant little came from his runs. Won plenty of battles. 7/10
Tomas Soucek – Didn’t offer the kind of threat in the air he has shown throughout his time with the Hammers when they were earning plenty of set-pieces towards the end of the game, but worked hard as ever in the middle and provided the platform for Rice to make his forward bursts. 6/10
Jarrod Bowen – Ineffectual on the right-hand side, unable to link up with team-mates. Had one chance which saw him hit a shot straight at De Gea from close range, but was then rightly deemed to have been offside anyway. 4/10
Flynn Downes – Neat and tidy in possession but very risk averse in a team which had to take some if its plan to play on the break and nick a goal was going to work, especially after going a goal down. 5/10
Said Benrahma – Plenty of strong dribbling and direct running which helped West Ham up the pitch quickly when they regained possession, but lacked quality with his final pass, shot or touch. Not helped by a lack of support from colleagues at times. 6/10
Gianluca Scamacca – Looked isolated up top, barely able to influence play for the majority of the game. Could have been sent off after making contact with Martinez’s head with his boot after already being booked and was replaced shortly afterwards. 5/10
Substitutes
Alphonse Areola – Replaced Fabianski at the break and had equally little work on his hands. 6/10
Michail Antonio – Came on for Scamacca and provided more presence and hold-up play up-front, forcing a smart save from de Gea with a rasper of a shot from 25-yards-out. 6/10
Pablo Fornals – Replaced Downes with 15 minutes to play and offered much more skill on the ball. Should probably have been brought on earlier. 6/10
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