Before Erik ten Hag was sacked, the immediate fallout from West Ham’s 2-1 win over Manchester United was dominated by the controversial late penalty awarded to the Hammers.
Understandably so, given the fact it was United, the fact it was not originally given on-field, and the fact Michael Oliver was the VAR. But that slice of fortune does not tell the full story of how West Ham produced their third Premier League win of a so-far difficult season.
They deserve credit for their tactically sound display and, in particular, praise must go to the Julen Lopetegui for his decisive calls. His decision-making at the London Stadium on Sunday offers encouragement for West Ham as they now enter a key run of tight-looking games against Nottingham Forest, Everton and Newcastle.
The personnel in Lopetegui’s defence had been pretty stable since he took the reins, yet he changed things up against United by dropping goalkeeper Alphonse Areola after his own goal at Tottenham, replacing him with Lukasz Fabianski - a trustworthy deputy who proved to be just that, with a string of acrobatic saves to keep misfiring United out.
He also dropped new signing Jean-Clair Todibo at centre-back for his part in Areola’s own goal, and Dinos Mavropanos did well in the first half.
The pivotal moment that suggested under-pressure Lopetegui has what it takes to change the course of a game, though, came at the interval, when he made a triple substitution.
Fearful of second yellows down the line, the 58-year-old took no chances and replaced Mavropanos and Lucas Paqueta, who were both on first-half bookings. On came Todibo and Soucek, while the ineffectual Carlos Soler was also hooked in favour of fellow summer recruit Crysencio Summerville.
Lopetegui was delighted by their impact. Soucek’s battling display in the middle of the park got the better of the rather more static pairing of Christian Eriksen and Casemiro.
Todibo made a succession of important clearances as West Ham gradually improved their level, and Summerville scored his first goal for the club - the game’s opener - in a livewire 45-minute display which rightly earned him man of the match.
The West Ham manager was pleased his players did not cower when Casemiro equalised with 10 minutes to play. They kept piling forward, Jarrod Bowen scored the decisive spot-kick, and West Ham duly leapfrogged United in the league - albeit on goals scored.
While he did not admit it overtly, Lopetegui knew his half-time substitutions had won West Ham the match, earning them a second home win over the Red Devils in as many seasons.
“There were two different halves”, he said. “In the second half we changed, and we were better than them.”
Summerville has looked as bright as any of the club’s nine new signings in the first two months of the season, but there was strategic thinking behind leaving the Dutchman out of the starting line-up.
“We were thinking about him for the second half”, said Lopetegui. “With Manchester United playing Thursday [against Fenerbahce], we thought we might be able to have more energy [than them] with Crysencio on the wing. Fortunately, it worked.”
An extremely tough set of early-season fixtures navigated, West Ham will now hope to make up for lost time. Arsenal are the only traditional ‘Big Six’ side they face between now and December 29. Can Lopetegui repeat the trick and keep them winning?
