Refereeing spoils United match
Koeman heading up at expense of Saints
JOSE Mourinho got the big calls right. Mike Dean did not. That was the story of this tired encounter, ruined by an early red card and a brittle referee who lost his way – abetted by an errant linesman late on – with, ultimately, Manchester United remaining on track in their pursuit of the top four and, maybe, an unexpected Premier League title challenge.
Certainly the United manager has a glint in his eye that suggests he believes it might be on and that his own mojo has finally returned. “In this moment we see them, all of them are there,” Mourinho said of the five teams in front of United, still in sixth but closing that gap. And it felt like a warning shot.
Dean will feel hunted after this. The criticism was universal and damning and there should be repercussions also for the official as he sent off West Ham’s Sofiane Feghouli after just 15 minutes, and did not manage to keep control after that.
To compound matters, Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 18th goal of the season was scored from a clear offside position – with Dean let down by assistant referee Simon Long, who somehow failed to flag even though the striker was standing still when the ball came to him. And the official was in line.
This was the poorest United have played in what is, nevertheless, now a formidable run of 11 league matches without defeat and an impressive sequence of six wins in a row to send confidence climbing.
Despite the fatigue of both teams playing only 48 hours after their previous match Mourinho certainly kept his wits about him and used the huge strength at his disposal, which always felt like it could make the difference. It was his substitutions – bringing on Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford – that inevitably proved decisive.
Mourinho trotted out the bad luck and bad decisions that he feels United have been on the end of this season but he knows he got away with this one with the 10 men of West Ham pushing his players right up until Mata’s goal.
Indeed, had Michail Antonio been more decisive seconds before United went ahead, then Mourinho conceded his team would not have won.
Instead, put clear on goal by Manuel Lanzini, with a smart threaded pass, Antonio side-footed straight at David de Gea and the opportunity was lost.
United will point to an ugly, over-the-ball challenge in the second half by Cheikhou Kouyaté on Henrikh Mkhitaryan, which could have warranted a dismissal, but the incident on which the game turned went hugely in their favour.
Bilic later even argued that Phil Jones, who lunged in, was more the aggressor than Feghouli, who also launched himself after overrunning the ball from Antonio’s chest-down.
Dean had a clear view and got it wrong. Jones’s reaction, rolling around, and the reaction of the United players maybe influenced him but it was still a bad call. It was Dean who was negligent.
Despite the man advantage United laboured but RONALD Koeman may have found it difficult to explain why he left a club seemingly on the way up at Southampton for the long-term reconstruction at Everton. But for the first time since his summer move from St Mary’s, it could be argued the clubs are heading in different directions.
Enner Valencia’s first goal for the Merseysiders, Leighton Baines’s penalty and an emphatic third for the should have gone ahead when Mkhitaryan crossed low to Antonio Valencia, whose point-blank shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Darren Randolph.
Mourinho was not happy. He hauled off Matteo Darmian – on a booking – at half-time and cleverly dropped Michael Carrick back into defence, charging Mata to add more creativity.
Suddenly United did look more threatening – but it was Antonio who should have scored.
That incident was pivotal because United then attacked, with Jones sending the ball out left to Rashford who skilfully worked his way to the byline and picked out Mata, who had pulled into space, and his first-time shot gave Randolph no chance.
Again Mourinho responded – immediately bringing on Chris Smalling and pushing Carrick back into midfield to give his team greater solidity.
Bilic turned to Andy Carroll but before he could make an impact the game was over. West Ham failed to clear Ander Herrera’s charged-down shot, as Pedro Obiang presented the ball back to the midfielder on the area’s edge, and it was turned through to Ibrahimovic.
He was offside, as was Paul Pogba alongside him, but the flag stayed down and the striker’s predatory instinct took over as he quickly swivelled and prodded the ball between Randolph and his near post and into the net.
For West Ham fortune was hiding; for Mourinho, despite his smart changes and tactical switches, he was lucky. — The Daily Telegraph excellent Romelu Lukaku put Everton six points clear of Koeman’s former side, which probably says more about the contrasting talents of the two coaches than the relative quality of each squad.
The Saints are unrecognisable this season from the side Koeman led to respective seventh and sixth-place finishes. It is a worrying deterioration for his successor, Claude Puel.
Fixture congestion can be used in Southampton’s mitigation — as could an early head injury to fullback Cedric — but it is not the first colourless performance from them recently.
Nevertheless, Koeman was happy to concede Everton’s freshness was a factor in their superiority.
“In the last 30 minutes we were better because they had one day less to recover and we made the difference,” he said.
Puel was not inclined to argue. “A lot of players had to play two games in three days. That is very difficult.”
There is no prospect of Southampton matching their top-six status of last season, early 2017 promising to be little more than a consolidation of mid-table security.
Koeman’s wish to add to his squad has not been disguised and it was telling he began 2017 by injecting fresh blood from his youth ranks.
Teenager Tom Davies made his first start of the season after several impressive substitute cameos, while 19-year-old striker Dominic CalvertLewin was also called up.
It is the first time any Premier League side have begun with two teenagers this season, a sign of Koeman’s growing impatience with the playing resources he inherited. Unfortunately, Calvert-Lewin was forced off with an ankle injury within 11 minutes.
But Everton could rely on Lukaku at his best, Maya Yoshida given a most uncomfortable afternoon deputising for the suspended Virgil van Dijk. Lukaku was inevitably involved with the crucial first goal. — The Daily Telegraph