Sungtu Magassa scores a late point for West Ham as Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United produced another lackluster Premier League performance at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim has often had to analyze set-piece mistakes with his staff during his time at Old Trafford, but this time it was a big mistake.
It was Seungtu Magassa who calmly finished to give West Ham United a well-deserved share of the spoils, but the chance came after Nousser Mazraoui was forced to clear on the line as the visitors towered over the home defense and headed home from a corner kick.
So, what about that player? That colossus is Jarrod Bowen.
Amorim’s team, and Amorim’s defense, really keeps finding new ways to kill chances to win. Not that this was a winning overall performance. It was a poor performance from the beginning.
Young Aiden Haven set the tone, receiving a yellow card for a disastrously mistimed slide to Bowen, then delivering a frighteningly fierce backpass to Senne Ramens, who neatly cut it wide.
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But Haven’s hesitation was typical of Manchester United’s early efforts. Their lack of intensity was immense and a quarter of the match had passed before the home side forced their first corner.
That put some pressure on them, as Joshua Zirkzee’s shot was cleared on the goal line by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were rarely in danger in the first half, with the most lively aspect of the home performance being Bruno Fernandes’ ongoing tussle with referee Andrew Kitchin, who was in charge of Manchester United’s game for the first time.
There was no danger of the kitchen not being able to keep up with the play. It was completely pedestrian. And it suited West Ham, who have one of the most skilled players in the game in Bowen.
However, this looked like a lack of confidence in West Ham’s line-up and there was a sense that Ruben Amorim’s side had to step up a gear to take joy from this night. They finished the first half relatively well, which made the start of the second period’s struggles all the more surprising.
There has been quite a bit of discussion about the general standard of Premier League football this season, but it’s safe to say this was stark evidence that it’s definitely not at vintage level. It was messy, dotted with clumsy fouls and scarred by horribly bad passes.
That Manchester United have a very real chance of finishing in the top four is a bit of an indictment on the quality of the competition as a whole. They didn’t deserve to win this contest, but Diogo Dalot deserved to score his first Premier League goal at Old Trafford, and his first in 18 months.
His smart turn and goal came just before the hour mark after Casemiro’s shot hit his feet inside the penalty area. This should have been the basis for Manchester United’s victory, but West Ham showed great determination and no small amount of creativity, carving out several half-chances before Magassa’s composure earned them a valuable point.
There was some jeers after the final whistle, but like Manchester United’s attempts to avoid another disappointing ending to the game, they were quite half-hearted.
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