This was Moyesball at its most effective. West Ham never looked like letting the points out of their grasp once they were in front. David Moyes’s side simply swarmed all over Manchester United, making it horrible, feeding off a passionate London Stadium crowd, and the worry for Erik ten Hag will be that his side’s latest stumble could not be explained simply by pointing to David de Gea’s mistake for the goal that breathed life back into the race to qualify for the Champions League.
United were loose in all areas. If the first quarter of the match was about their profligacy in the final third the rest of it was defined by the absence of any response after Saïd Benrahma’s soft opener midway through the opening period.
In the end United looked drained, West Ham simply outmuscling them at times. There was a late flurry, Anthony Martial twice threatening a dramatic equaliser, but that was a deception. The truth is that Moyes deserved this triumph over his former employers and, while United still have a game in hand over Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp’s side will fancy their chances of stealing fourth after cutting the gap to a point.
United’s second away defeat in the space of three days was further evidence that their momentum is fading after a draining season. They had zero leadership from their captain, Bruno Fernandes, whose final contribution was to waft a dreadful shot over the bar. They had nothing from Wout Weghorst and Antony. Even Marcus Rashford’s finishing was below par and, with the attack so short of bite, the last thing Ten Hag needed was for De Gea to add to his growing portfolio of errors.
West Ham did a job on Ten Hag’s side, Declan Rice pocketing Fernandes, their commitment and organisation impressive. This was a return to the resilience of old. Moyes has seen West Ham make too many individual errors, but not here. Victory moved the Scot’s side seven points above the bottom three and, away from the battle to stay up, filled them with confidence before the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.
For Moyes, there was much to take from his back four coping without the injured Kurt Zouma, Michail Antonio pummelling United’s defence and Tomas Soucek’s appetite for the battle seeing the Czech midfielder end with a bloodied head after he denied Aaron Wan-Bissaka a late equaliser.
Of course, the game could have gone in a different direction. United began well, their defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion seemingly out of their system, but their tendency to squander dominant positions is a recurring issue. Rashford was the first to disappoint, bending wide after surging away from Angelo Ogbonna and linking with Christian Eriksen, and there would be more to come. West Ham were passive and United should have punished them. Fernandes and Eriksen went close from long range. Antony, fired wide after being played in by Weghorst.
The fifth opening went to Rashford, bursting past Thilo Kehrer before striking the woodwork, but then came a lull. West Ham stirred. The hosts had isolated Casemiro on a couple of occasions and they had also seen skittishness in De Gea, Weghorst intervening when the United goalkeeper sent a pass straight to Rice.
\West Ham stepped up their pressing and Luke Shaw lost possession to Benrahma. United were on the retreat, though there was still no panic. Benrahma was outnumbered and a long way out. There was no venom from the winger when he tried an early shot from 25 yards; he must have been as surprised as anyone when a backpedalling De Gea, diving in stages, collapsed to his right and pushed the ball into the net.
West Ham had barely threatened; now they were alive. They remained compact and pounced on the break. Antonio broke and made a chance for Jarrod Bowen. Benrahma tested De Gea and West Ham should have had a penalty when Victor Lindelöf handled the winger’s cross just before half-time.
United were unravelling. Antony struck the left post with a deflected effort but a sense of injustice burned through West Ham at the start of the second half. Rice and Soucek were shutting everything down after missing the defeat to Manchester City because of illness. Lucas Paqueta’s influence in attacking midfield grew.
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West Ham went for a second, Rice fizzing a ball across the face of goal, Soucek warming De Gea’s palms. De Gea flapped and Antonio bundled the ball in, only to be penalised for a push. Ten Hag responded by replacing Weghorst with Martial.
Yet Nayef Aguerd, who was also too unwell to play against City, had a fine game alongside Ogbonna in central defence. Kehrer was tough at right-back. Aaron Cresswell kept Antony quiet. West Ham were rugged, Antonio terrorising United. Lucas Paqueta blazed wide, Soucek had a goal disallowed for offside. United woke up near the end. Lukasz Fabianski tipped over from Rashford and there was a long delay after Soucek and Wan-Bissaka clashed heads. The board showed eight added minutes. Martial shot at Fabianski and headed wide but it was West Ham’s night.
