FULL THROTTLE!
(Shame the game was stuck in first gear)
Two years on from the day when west Ham fans launched the Upton Park farewell party with an attack on Manchester United’s team bus, the same fixture could not have conjured a more startlingly sedate affair.
United were back in the area, only this time they were on time and there was no anarchy on the streets.
They were greeted inside the stadium by thousands of empty seats and a deathly atmosphere — and the teams took a long time to stir the blood.
Eighty six uneventful minutes had passed when Paul Pogba tripped Mark Noble in midfield, sparking a furious reaction from the west Ham captain and a brief eruption of unruly skirmishing.
Noble grabbed at Pogba’s face and a mass of bodies from each team waded in until referee Jon Moss settled it with a yellow card for both players.
Until then, the away fans had passed the time by teasing their hosts about their new home, despite the latest attempts to infuse the place with the spirit of west Ham, with flags bearing club crests and new concourse displays.
Jose Mourinho picked a team strangely devoid of attacking players. No doubt he has a plan in his mind for the FA Cup final against his former club Chelsea.
It is his final chance to finish the season with a trophy and as a result, unsurprisingly perhaps, this match was a contest of very little goalmouth activity.
‘I am not critical of the performance at all,’ said Mourinho afterwards. ‘Against Brighton, at half-time I told the players they were going to lose — and tonight at half-time, I said we would win.
‘I was wrong but we were positive in the game. In the 80th minute, we know that a point was enough so we start thinking about that and let the game go.’
Mourinho made eight changes to the United team beaten last week at Brighton, a defeat which was followed by his withering assessment that some players were ‘not good enough’.
That criticism was reinforced by his team selection — and appeared relevant for Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
The two young strikers were on the bench despite an injury which will rule Romelu Lukaku out of the last two games of the season.
Mourinho opted to start with Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard up top and moved to a back three.
west Ham, having secured Premier League survival with a win at Leicester on Saturday, made a positive start.
Marko Arnautovic wriggled into space on the edge of the penalty box and forced the game’s first save from David de Gea.
Arnautovic was unable to turn a tricky header on target when a low cross from Aaron Cresswell spun into the air as Chris Smalling failed to clear.
The Austrian frontman created another opportunity for Joao Mario with a burrowing dribble down the touchline ten minutes before half-time but the Portuguese fired wide.
Pogba made supportive runs into the box but the visitors rarely stretched west Ham’s three centre-halves in the first half.
Scott McTominay, who was fortunate to escape injury when Cresswell went over the ball early in the game, lashed one wide from long range and Lingard forced Adrian into action with a fading strike from distance.
west Ham’s goalkeeper, who retained his place after Joe Hart missed the Leicester game through illness, sprang to his left to push it away and followed it with a fine double save.
First he parried from Sanchez and reacted quickly as Luke Shaw pounced on the rebound. Another Adrian save from Lingard brought the first half to a close.
Sanchez slowly became 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 striker attempted to curl the ball home.
Pogba arrived late to head a cross wide and Smalling missed the target from a corner. Pogba curled another shot wide after good play by Sanchez.
with 25 minutes left, David Moyes sent on Andy Carroll in the hope of unsettling United. Mourinho responded by sending on Rashford to replace Lingard but the end-of-season drift prevailed.
west Ham finish the campaign against Everton and then a decision will be taken on the future of Moyes.
‘of course we are satisfied to get a point against Manchester United. The attitude of the players was terrific,’ said the Hammers boss. ‘we are safe but the players knew it was a big game. we wanted to move up the table.’
on his future, he added: ‘It’s a big achievement for us (avoiding relegation). It has been a tough job but a really good job.
‘This is a big club and there are big expectations from the fans, so we will need to improve.
‘we will have a chat next week and see how things go.’
WEST HAM UNITED (3-4-2-1): Adrian; Rice, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Zabaleta, Kouyate, Noble, Masuaku (Carroll 66); Mario, Lanzini; Arnautovic. Subs not used: Hart, Hugill, Obiang, Evra, Fernandes, Cullen. Booked: Noble. MANCHESTER UNITED (3-5-2): De Gea; Lindelof, Smalling, Jones; Valencia (Bailly 90), McTominay, Herrera, Pogba, Shaw; Lingard (Rashford 73), Sanchez (Young 90). Subs not used: Romero, Mata, Martial, Blind. Booked: Pogba. Man of the match: Adrian. Referee: Jonathan Moss. Attendance: 56,902.