Having snatched an injury-time victory away at Wolves, the Red Devils returned to their home ground to face London’s West Ham United. An unusual sight for Mancunian fans this season: a victory without signs of a comeback by the opponents, a good execution and a defeat of the opponent at Old Trafford.
The Devils lineup remained the same as against Wolves, but with one exception. Harry Maguire returned to central defense, displacing Rafa Varane from team-mate Lichee Martinez.
Moisy’s team has not been spoiling its fans with good results lately, having won their last victory last year over Arsenal. Their last match in the Premier League was a draw against Bournemouth. The Hammers’ lineup had some minor surprises. Areola, as usual, took his place in the goal. In defense were Emerson, Agerd, Zouma and Tsoufal. Johnson, West Ham’s right-back, found himself closer to the attack, operating as a right-sided midfielder and at times as a forward, which confused Luke Shaw at certain points in the match. Soucek, Ward-Prowse and Alvarez took up positions in the midfield, with Kudus and Bowen positioned closer to the attack in freer roles.
The first moment took place in the 11th minute of the match, when the Londoners managed to hit Onan’s goal from a corner, but the Cameroonian coped with the shot. Then there were corners from the home team, and it is worth admitting that the play became more cunning and, in theory, should begin to bring benefits with a similar approach.
Corner at Areola’s goal. During the play, Rashford passes the ball to Brun, who has several options: pass to Dalot or further to Main; cross into the penalty area, where Maguire and Casemiro are dangerous in the air; return the ball to the flank for another saturation of the left flank; and an option for Fernandes to hit, which ultimately happened, but Alfons came to the rescue. There are signs that this is not an isolated incident or a one-match affair. Such decisions became noticeable with the return of the main players. During the next corner, the ball was nevertheless delivered to Dalot, but the Portuguese’s shot did not turn out to be dangerous.
In the 23rd minute, after a chaotic struggle for possession of the ball, Licha rose higher to the flank, took possession of the ball and threw it towards Hejlund, but Zouma beat him to it, knocking the ball away with his head. Neither Ward-Prowse nor Soucek were able to get ahead of Casemiro, who managed to poke the ball towards the same Heilund, and Rasmus, having first eliminated Zouma and Agerd with a false movement of his working foot, surprised the Hammers’ defense with his right foot, shooting into the corner of Areol’s goal. A great gift for yourself on your birthday!
The Dane has 31 touches, 4 ground duels won, 1 shot on target that became an assist. A really important goal that allowed the team to take the lead in an even game with chances on both sides.
The guests tried to respond with another set piece, after which Johnson fired into the center of the goal from a decent distance, but Onana was obliged to take this, no matter how hard the blow was struck.
At the end of the half there was an attack that became the embodiment of Ten Hag’s plans. Onana knocked the ball right into the fight between Hejlund and Zouma, where Rasmus emerged victorious this time. The Dane unexpectedly passed with his heel to Bruno, who had to decide which of the fast guys to send into the race.
Assessing Rashford’s strange darting between the defenders, not trying to run behind them, the captain passed the ball to Garnacho, who sent the same Rasmus forward. The forward, unfortunately, missed the target. After the episode, Rashford will throw up his hands in disappointment, which is strange. Considering his current form, Bruno did the right thing by giving it to Alejandro, and the Argentine had an advantage in his position, since there was an option to connect the striker nearby. A prank with Marcus in the center would not have led to such a dangerous episode.
The second half was marked by the slowness of Maguire, who made two errors, due to which the guests could have dampened the score, but in the first moment, fortunately, Emerson, being at a rendezvous with Andre, could not adjust to the shot and shot under the ball, sending it into the stands , and the second moment will come later. The Englishman was lucky. Otherwise, Harry performed well in the match after a long absence. The ex-captain played his last match against Bayern in December.
In the very next episode, Fernandes threw a diagonal towards Garnacho, who, after waiting for a pause, made a dash under his left foot and shot, ricocheting off Agerd and sending the ball into the net of Lukasz Fabianski’s goal. 2:0.
Another great performance from Alejandro, who, after scoring the goal, went to celebrate by sitting on a billboard and paying tribute to his idol. Also, there was a great parody of the celebration of Mohammed Qudus from the opposing team. The Argentine has 3 aggravating passes, 2 shots on target and 2 goals with 0.24 xG. Garnacho is becoming a more versatile player before our eyes. More recently, he was an explosive player with excellent runs and striking, but under tired opponents. And now he is a team player who creates chances not only for himself, but also for his teammates, playing from the first minutes. At the same time, he does not forget to score himself. The way Alejandro evolves is admirable.
The second moment involving Maguire. Not calculating the trajectory of the ball, Harry tried to reach the projectile with his head, but failed. Bowen ran into the gap and could have decided the episode, but Dalot saved the team by making a crazy dash from the center of the field. The Portuguese was not perfect defensively, especially in the first half of the game, but he was as good as usual when playing with the ball and gave the team an advantage in possession and in corners. 9 successful passes into the final third of the field of 10, 8 long balls, 5 ball returns and 1 wonderful block.
At the end of the match, McTominay, who came on as a substitute, in alliance with Heilund, organized a robbery of Phillips in the center of the field and Scott passed the ball to convert the third chance for Garnacho. Alejandro coolly sent the ball into the far corner.
The second half was marred by the injury of Lisandro, on whose leg, having lost the fight, Tsoufal fell with the entire weight of his body. This is not a recurrence of a past injury, but the knee is always painful and rarely a short-term injury. It gives hope that Martinez left on his feet and, perhaps, the examination will not reveal particularly serious injuries.
The second victory in a row in the Premier League and unexpected in terms of the solidity and concentration of the players until the last minutes. Even the interactions between the players don’t look like the team was in any kind of crisis. There is connection and team spirit. Quality performances from the entire starting line-up, bar two gaffes from Maguire. With the strikers’ performance like this, it’s not at all scary for the rest of the season, but stability is a quality that our team still lacks. And no one is immune from injuries.
Six points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham, and in the next round the game is against Emery’s Villa, which in its current form really needs to be beaten, despite the fact that the match is away.
2024-02-04 21:04:33
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