Man United visited London Stadium today to play the Hammers in Matchweek 5 of the Premier League. The game was end to end and finished with stoppage time drama.
The first half started with Man United on the pedal. They dominated possession and had West Ham under the hood. West Ham had a few attacks but lacked that finishing touch without Mikhail Antonio who was serving a one match ban for the red card he got at St. Mary’s. Then, in the 30th minute, the gears shifted to West Ham’s favor as they broke the deadlock. Benrahma received a pass from Bowen and shot it. It took a deflection of Varane and De Gea could only watch the ball go into the net. That was a wake up call for United as they pressured West Ham for the next few minutes. Then in the 35th minute, the Red Devils equalized from the Portuguese pair. Fernandes floated a beautiful cross to Ronaldo who flicked it into the goal. Fabianski made a good first save but the rebound went straight two Ronaldo’s feet and he tapped the ball into the net with his left foot. Ronaldo now has 4 goals in his last 3 United appearances. The Hammers lead only lasted 5 minutes and the game was equal once again. That pretty much summarized the 1st half in London.
The 2nd half was started quickly by Manchester. Ronaldo had a golden opportunity in front of goal only to be denied by Fabianski in a stunning save. Ronaldo couldn’t believe it!
Throughout the 2nd half, Ronaldo was “fouled” inside the penalty area and at least one of them should have been a penalty. I definitely think Martin Atkinson missed some calls in this game.
It remained equal until the ending of the match drama.
Part 1- Jesse Lingard, the former West Ham player and the guy who made an error in the Champions League, scored an absolute cracker from the edge of the penalty box into the top corner to give the Devils a 2-1 lead in the 89th minute of the game.
That’s not all of it though.
Part 2- In the last minute of stoppage time, West Ham were crossing it from the left flank but Luke Shaw’s hand touched the ball in the penalty box while the ball was in flight. Is that a penalty? The answer is yes. This game couldn’t have gotten any better than this but it just did. West Ham made a sub and brought on Mark Noble to take the game tying penalty in the 94th minute of the game. The penalty is……… SAVED. David De Gea saves the game, keeps the 3 points, and puts United into 3rd place with a clutch Penalty Kick save.
A remarkable game finished with West Ham fans wondering “what just happened?” and Manchester United fans beaming as they take another 3 points on the road.
It can’t get any better than that, “right”?
THE END
Just some info on the VAR changes-
The Premier league VAR system updated their offside and handball rules. Last year, a goal would be chalked off if your hand was outstretched or if you were a fraction offside but this year they are letting that be a goal. In this game, Ronaldo’s hand was offside but the goal still counted. Also last year, every handball was counted. This year, if it is accidental it will not be counted as a foul. I believe this is better for the flow of the game and so teams can score more goals and play more freely.