West Ham United Upset Red Devils

Two set pieces, two headers.

That’s all it took for West Ham United to come from behind and beat an off-color Manchester United 2-1 on Saturday at Upton Park. 

It was the third time in a row that the Hammers have beaten United, and paves the way for Arsenal to regain the top spot in the league.  

West Ham coach Alan Curbishly said before the game that his team had nothing to lose and should go out and enjoy themselves.  They started brightly, hustling United into uncharacteristic errors and dominating possession.  Hayden Mullins should have scored early, but hit the bar from close range.  The rebound fell to Mark Noble, who volleyed over the net with only a defender to beat.

Throughout the first half, Man United looked dangerous on the break.  They were rewarded against the run of play in the 15th minute, after an incisive counter attack.  Louis Saha put Ryan Giggs through on the left.  His pin-point ball found Cristiano Ronaldo, who outstripped the Hammers defense to head home at the near post.

Despite conceding the early goal, West Ham continued to dominate possession. Their five-man midfield, anchored by Scott Parker and driven forward by Nobby Solano, played around United for large parts of the game.  Hayden Mullins and Noble also pushed into advanced goal-scoring positions. 

Solano, West Ham’s outstanding player of the day, found time and space on the right and whipped in countless dangerous balls.  He almost caught Tomasz Kuszczak with a delightful dipping ball but the Polish international recovered to make a finger-tip save.

The United defenders looked uncomfortable against the pace and physical presence of lone-striker Carlton Cole.  He held up possession well for the Hammers, and should have scored late in the first half after another well-measured ball from Solano.

Despite losing Solano and Parker in the second half, West Ham continued to outplay United and enjoyed most of the possession, but lacked a finishing touch.

United were gifted a penalty midway through the second half after an innocuous cross was handled by former United defender Jonathan Spector.  Ronaldo, looking to score his fourteenth league goal and nineteenth of the season, missed the resulting penalty.

When it seemed United would hold off West Ham, the Hammers struck with a 76th-minute header from substitute Anton Ferdinand.  Within five minutes, Matthew Upson had risen to head home powerfully from a Noble free-kick.  In both cases, the balls were floated into dangerous areas and United twice failed to defend effectively.

It was an inspired West Ham performance but United, despite resting players in their previous game against Sunderland, looked jaded and slow.  Manager Alex Ferguson made some questionable substitutions, opting to take off Carlos Tevez instead of Saha, who had provided very little.  Midfield destroyer Owen Hargreaves, who fought valiantly throughout, was subbed while ineffective Darren Fletcher remained on the pitch.