Manchester United beat West Ham United 2-1 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Saturday evening. Both goals came from penalties, which Paul Pogba scored, taking his goal tally this season to 13, also
West Ham had a goal in the opening minutes of the game but it was offside. It was a let-off for United though, who did not start all that well. United won a penalty in the 18th minute of the match after Juan Mata was seemingly fouled by Robert Snodgrass. After a short delay, Paul Pogba took the penalty and put United 1-0 up in the 19th minute.
West Ham equalised within five minutes into the second half with Felipe Anderson putting the ball into the back of the net. David De Gea and Pogba were both culpable for the goal as between them, they did not make the clearance of the ball with allowed Declan Rice and Manuel Lanzini to put the Hammers in a good position with Anderson scoring.
Marcus Rashford replaced Mata in the 56th minute of the match and within three minutes, had an impact in the game by firing a goalbound effort, which was deflected by Lukasz Fabianski, then deflected by the defence. Minutes later, he had the opportunity to head an effort, clearing the crossbar instead of burying his effort into the back of the net.
United won a second penalty in the 80th minute after Anthony Martial was fouled in the box by Ryan Fredericks. Pogba once again took the spot kick and buried his effort to see United ahead in the game for the second time. United need to start finding ways to beat teams as that seems to be something that is lacking. Also, stop conceding goals; it has been 13 matches since their last clean sheet.
Embed from Getty ImagesMan of the Match: Paul Pogba
The Frenchman may not have scored the goal during open play but they were the difference between United winning and losing at Old Trafford today. Pogba has been criticised a lot recently and most of that criticism has been warranted. It seems that he is flirting with another club ahead of the summer transfer window. That will not win him much support. But that aside, he showed his class with two good penalties which carved a good win for United and kept their top four hopes alive.
Match Statistics:
Goals: Paul Pogba 19′ (p), 80′ (p); Felipe Anderson 49′
Assists: Manuel Lanzini 49′
Manchester United: De Gea; Dalot, Smalling, Jones, Rojo (Pereira 75′); Fred, Pogba; Mata (Rashford 56′), Lingard, Martial; Lukaku (Greenwood 75′)
Substitutes Not Used: Romero; Lindelof, Darmian; McTominay
Bookings: Juan Mata 34′; Ryan Fredericks 79′