JOSE’S EYES ON WEMBLEY
Drab United pull their punches as they stay fresh for FA Cup final
Eighty-six minutes had gently sailed by when Paul Pogba tripped Mark Noble to spark a furious reaction from the West ham captain and an unruly skirmish, curiously at odds with the rest of the contest.
Noble grabbed at Pogba’s face, lodging a finger up the nose of the Manchester United midfielder as they grappled, and team-mates waded in, until referee Jon Moss restored some control.
Moss produced yellow cards for the two key protagonists and the end- of- season drift was re-established.
By the final whistle, Noble and Pogba were sharing a joke and a hug and neither manager was in the mood to engage on the incident.
it was hard to believe the same fixture, two years ago to the day, had marked the end of Upton Park on a night of anarchy and extreme emotion.
West ham fans launched the farewell party with an attack on United’s team bus but this was a startlingly sedate affair, played out in a funereal atmosphere before thousands of empty seats.
Jose Mourinho selected a side devoid of attacking players and can hardly have been surprised to see his Manchester United failing to score for a second successive outing.
he made eight changes to the team beaten last week at Brighton, pairing Alexis sanchez and Jesse Lingard up front and supporting them with three central midfielders and a back five.
his explanation was an attempt to rotate his squad, keeping them all ticking over ahead of the FA Cup final.
But, with Romelu Lukaku still out with an ankle injury, it seemed very much like a message designed for Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, two young strikers who long to play up front through the centre and who both started on the bench.
Rashford came on for the closing stages and made little impact. Martial did not appear but will be given a chance against Watford on sunday.
Lingard was the most likely to score and both he and sanchez produced movement that was sharp and imaginative, although United had few bodies in advanced positions.
Pogba forged into the penalty area at times but Mourinho’s team rarely gave West ham’s back three any problems with runs behind.
Most of the attempts at goal were from long range.
the first came from scott Mctominay, who was fortunate to escape injury when Aaron Cresswell lunged over the ball early in the game. Mctominay’s effort flashed wide and Lingard forced Adrian into action with a fading strike from distance.
West ham’s goalkeeper sprang to his left to push it away and followed it with a fine double save. First he parried from sanchez and reacted quickly to divert Luke shaw’s follow-up on to a post.
David Moyes kept faith with the team who won at Leicester to be sure of survival, which meant Joe hart, who was ill on saturday, had to settle for a place on the bench.
West ham made a bright and positive start, with Marko Arnautovic the chief threat.
Arnautovic wriggled into space on the edge of the penalty box and forced the game’s first save from David de gea, then headed over when Chris smalling failed to clear a cross from Cresswell.
Manchester United, however, soon settled into a better rhythm and dominated possession.
Adrian denied Lingard again before the interval, again from 25 yards, and he tried once more after the interval from a similar distance. this time straight at the goalkeeper, who made a routine save.
sanchez became slightly more influential. his run early in the second half tempted Adrian from his goal but Angelo Ogbonna scampered back to the goal-line to clear as the Chilean curled the ball towards the net from a tight angle. Pogba arrived late to head a cross wide and a header from smalling squirted wide at the back post from a corner. Pogba curled another shot wide after good play by sanchez before the two managers started to make their tactical changes.
Moyes sent on Andy Carroll in the hope of shaking something from the game and Mourinho responded by sending on Rashford with the challenge firmly thrown down to prove him wrong.
there would be no goals, only a late skirmish, and both managers seemed satisfied to take a point each and move on to the final round of Premier League fixtures.
For Moyes, West ham had avoided defeat against one of the Big six and the opportunity to conclude a difficult campaign of off-the-field unrest by leaping up the table with a win against Everton on sunday.
For Mourinho, it meant confirmation of the runners-up place, albeit 19 points behind champions Manchester City.
the United boss said: ‘Obviously when you know that you need a point to finish second and the game goes 70-75 minutes and you have the point in your hand, you are not going to gamble to try to win because a point is what gave us second position.’
United face Watford on sunday but Mourinho will be plotting for Chelsea, his former club, and the chance to hail the season a success by winning the FA Cup at Wembley.