David de Gea’s masterclass performance secured three points for Manchester United during a hard fought winner in the closing stages.
First-half
West Ham United had a bright start when Christian Eriksen’s poor pass handed the visitors an opportunity to score but Lisandro Martinez had it covered.
On the 5th minute, Marcus Rashford had a half chance following a brilliant interchange of passes between Eriksen and Carlo Casemiro but the former failed to convert the chance.
Eriksen played a quality long ball to Anthony Elanga but the Swedish did not quite control the ball and his shot was scuffed well wide.
Manchester United players constantly lost the ball all over the pictch and could hardly keep possession.
Casemiro stole the ball in West Ham’s half and served it to Cristiano Ronaldo who strucked the ball straight into the path of Lukasz Fabianski.
Elanga missed a glorious chance following passes by Rashford and Luke Shaw from a corner kick. Elanga’s effort on gaol was well off-target.
Rashford broke the deadlock on the 38th minute when he headed home from a cross by Eriksen. The Danish interchanged passes with Bruno Fernandes before curling the cross.
Manchester United finished the first-half with a one goal lead, thanks to Rashford’s opener.
Second-half
West Ham United dominated large parts of the second period.
Shaw served Ronaldo with a cross but the Portuguese headed wide. Cristiano missed yet another glorious chance following a through ball by Rashford.
On the 83rd minute Kurt Zouma guided the ball into the left side of the post but David de Gea rose to the occasion to deny West Ham a goal.
The Red Devils nearly scored the third goal when Fred Rodriguez hit the upright following a quality cross from Scott McTominay.
On the closing stages, de Gea made a key save to keep the score intact when Declan Rice fired from outside the eighteen area.
The match finished at 1-0 to Manchester United although it was a nervy ending for the Red Devils.
David de Gea’s saves
David de Gea made superb saves in the second period. His outstanding save came when he stopped Zouma’s header. The Spaniard made important saves to secure three points.
Erik ten Hag parsied the Spaniard and rubbished critics against him. BBC quoted the remarks of the boss:
“Everyone has his own opinion but for me, the first thing for a goalkeeper is to protect the goal and make sure you don’t concede goals,” he said. “In that fact he is magnificent.”
“But with the feet he has capabilities as well. That is not only with the keeper but also the one in front and what options you give to bring passes in.”
“I am convinced he can do it. The games so far he proved it.”
“When we come to an end with this block, we have the World Cup and then we have to think about it,” he said.
“In the background we have our strategies for how to deal with it, but it is clear already and I have already emphasised it several times, I am really happy with David. He is a great goalkeeper.
“He is only 31. He is fit. He can progress even more. He was already impressive good for Manchester United and I think he will do that in the future as well.”
Marcus Rashford scores 100 goals
Rashford scored his 100th goal for Manchester United in the first-half. The English international came from the academy and made his debute agaisnt Arsenal in 2015.
Marcus held a post-match interview after the game. According to Sky Sports, the Englishman said:
“It’s a complete different energy around the club and the training ground.”
“That puts me in a better headspace and I just feel really motivated now. That’s the area I was struggling in.”
“I was struggling at times with more mental things. It wasn’t really my own performance but other things off the pitch. That’s the biggest difference from last season.
“I get that it’s your job to speak about what happens on the pitch but for the players we have to get into the right headspace for every game.”
“Too often last season, I wasn’t in the right headspace for games. I wasn’t surprised by some of the stuff that was happening”.
