N’ HOPELESS
r second win ue matches ng with a 3-2 2016. ■ Man Utd have just 10 points in the PL this season – they last picked up fewer points from their opening seven games of a top-flight campaign in 1989/90 (7). crossed for Felipe Anderson to brilliantly backheel West Ham into the lead.
For 20 minutes, the Hammers played with intensity, fluidity, and invention. And, even though the visitors often had 10 players behind the ball, the Hammers passed around them like they were training cones.
Mourinho’s side were disjointed, laboured and their players were on entirely different wavelengths. West Ham’s failure to really punish them, though, left the door open. United responded with an improved period, but created just one chance when Romelu Lukaku headed against the post.
West Ham’s skilful front three – Anderson, Marko Arnautovic (above) and Andriy Yarmolenko – started having fun and linked up well towards the end of the half. And it was the Ukrainian whose shot was deflected into his own net by Victor Lindelof to make it 2-0.
That second goal, two minutes before half-time, summed up United’s sluggish display as they were slow to react, firstly, when the corner came in and, then, ■ Felipe Anderson is only the second Brazilian to score for West Ham in the Premier League, after Ilan Araujo, who scored four for the club in 2010. when the ball ran loose to Yarmolenko. Lindelof was the first United fall guy, replaced by Marcus Rashford. It was a damning indictment of the £31million Swede that Mourinho preferred to leave Mctominay on instead of him when he switched to a centre-back pairing.
Then Pogba and Martial were subbed too and immediately United made it 2-1 as Rashford turned in Luke Shaw’s corner.
But the visitors’ hopes of a comeback were extinguished three minutes later.
Noble fed the ball between Chris Smalling and Mctominay and Arnautovic had all the time to score.
West Ham rubbed it in by celebrating in the away technical area, while a shellshocked Mourinho stared out in disbelief at the horror show he had witnessed in front of him.
It was impossible not to wonder how much longer he will have to.
Afterwards, Pellegrini said: “We hope, in the future, to have a lot of these days.
“Today was the test we needed to prove we can play as a big team. Not just to get a result defending against United or City or Chelsea. We work every day. That, to me more, makes me happy. The players delivered a big performance.” ■ David de Gea has kept just one clean sheet in his opening seven PL games this season, having managed six shut-outs in his first seven last season.