Man U secures second with draw
LONDON— Manchester United clinched second place in the Premier League with a 0-0 draw at West Ham on Thursday.
In a dull game with few quality chances, United defender Luke Shaw came closest to scoring when he had a shot turned onto the post in the first half.
The point means United are ensured of finishing second behind runaway champion Manchester City, while David Moyes’ West Ham remained in 15th place — but just two points from 10th with one game remaining.
United manager Jose Mourinho reacted to Friday’s1-0 loss at Brighton by making eight changes, introducing a back three and utilizing fit-again Alexis Sanchez as his main striker.
West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic hit an early strike straight at David De Gea before the Aus- tria international could only head over from six yards after Chris Smalling made a mess of clearing Aaron Cresswell’s cross.
Jesse Lingard forced West Ham goalkeeper Adrian into his first save as the visitors started to take control of the contest, with Sanchez drawing another stop before the Spanish keeper redirecting Shaw’s followup strike onto the post.
It was the closest either side came to scoring, although the match flared up toward the end Paul Pogba’s foul on West Ham skipper Mark Noble led to a fracas.
Both players grabbed hold of one another but it was Noble who was arguably the luckier of the pair to only be booked following his angry reaction.
The away supporters in attendance at London Stadium paid near-constant tributes to former manager Alex Ferguson, the 76-year-old now out of intensive care having had an operation on a brain hemorrhage over the weekend.