The Mail on Sunday

A SPLIT IDENTITY

After miracle turnaround, the question is: will the real Man United please stand up?

- By Rob Draper CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER AT THE LONDON STADIUM

THEY ARE the worst United side you’ve ever seen and they are a throwback to Sir Alex Ferguson’s glory days; they are a tactical shambles and one of the most incisive counter-attacking teams in Europe; they have players seemingly unfit for the job and some of the finest individual­s in world football.

What to make of this Manchester United side, full of contradict­ions?

‘ As bad as it gets,’ said Gary Neville in the first half. ‘ I can’t believe what I’m watching.’ Except we all could believe it.

For United have done this often since Fergie left. Outsmarted by their former manager David Moyes, who witnessed a few United displays like this, they ran around chasing shadows, bullied and outwitted by West Ham. How they were not at least 3-0 down come the break was unfathomab­le.

And then, like last weekend at Southampto­n, came the comeback.

You could simplify the conundrum and say this is the Bruno Fernandes show. Right now he’s as outstandin­g a midfielder as you could see.

He came off the bench and, ably assisted by Marcus Rashford — another half-time substitute — had a hand in all three goals which United scored in a stunning 12-minute passage of play.

Going forwards, perhaps United would deign to deliver a 90-minute shift? For those 12 minutes they harried and scurried and executed passes and shots with great skill. For that passage of play they were a delight.

But how Moyes and the 2,000 watching fans, the first to return in the Premier League, will curse the succession of missed chances which kept United alive.

United, with Fernandes starting on the bench to protect a muscle injury, had looked clueless to begin with as West Ham’s 3-4-3 saw them dominate midfield.

The return of Paul Pogba to the starting line- up was the underwhelm­ing event we have become used to in that first half.

That said, West Ham would have wanted to have made more of their dominance. Jarrod Bowen did have the ball in the net after nine minutes but was a yard offside. No need for VAR on this one.

Bowen then sprinted past Alex Telles on 32 minutes, delivered a telling cross and Pablo Fornals should have done better.

More good work from Bowen played in Sebastien Haller on 35 minutes. He touched on to Fornals, who prodded a shot off the post.

Other than some corners, some breakaway attacks and an Anthony Martial shot late on in the first half which Lukasz Fabianski did well to save, United offered nothing. West Ham’s deserved lead came in the 39th minute. Aaron Cresswell swung in a corner, Declan Rice rose at the near post and headed the ball across goal for Tomas Soucek to slide at the far post to turn in.

Well worked though the routine was, it was poorly defended, United looking like a bunch of docile zebras in their garish black and white kit, picked off by predators.

And if West Ham had been good up to that point, they stepped up a gear. The goal precipitat­ed a remarkable spell up to half-time in which United looked hapless as West Ham dominated utterly. First, almost straight from the kick-off, came an extraordin­ary miss as the ball broke long for Haller. He rounded keeper Dean Henderson and the goal beckoned.

The fans prepared to celebrate, though by now Harry Maguire was back desperatel­y trying to make himself big across the goal.

Haller fatally took an extra step inside to avoid Maguire when it was probably unnecessar­y. In doing so he tripped over his own legs and missed.

Even then there was time for a Fabian Balbuena shot that required a smart block from Victor Lindelof on 41 minutes; Bowen was put through on goal but didn’t have the pace to beat Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who made a trademark recovery tackle on 43 minutes; and keeper Henderson had to save from a Bowen header on 45 minutes.

It was stirring stuff and Moyes’s only complaint would have been that his side weren’t well ahead.

Changes were essential for United at half-time. On came Fernandes and Rashford, with Donny van de Beek and Edinson Cavani being sacrificed. It made little difference with Soucek and Rice still bossing.

Yet West Ham seemed prepared to give United a lifeline, spurning chance after chance. On 52 minutes Haller released Vladimir Coufal, who might have shot but elected to cross. Bowen couldn’t quite connect.

Almost the first sign of life for United came when Rashford set off down the left, cut inside and fed Scott McTominay, who hit a rasping shot into the side- netting on 55 minutes. It was at least a coherent passage of play with a real threat.

On 59 minutes Rashford again cut inside and forced Fabianski to save at the near post. Perhaps United were stirring.

On 65 minutes came our answer. There was an element of fortune. As Bowen, full of energy, chased down a l oose ball, he f orced Henderson into a sprint off his line to get there first. The keeper sent a long, curling clearance almost all t he way back t o West Ham’s penalty area, where it was picked up by Fernandes. He sprinted, touched the ball to Pogba and from the edge of the box the Frenchman curled in a stunning finish.

We had to wait for a VAR check to see if Henderson’s clearance had swung out of play but it hadn’t.

The decision was correct but on the balance of play West Ham could feel cheated. And within three minutes Fernandes executed a delightful back-heel flick, Telles would cross and Mason Greenwood, anonymous until then, spun deftly and shot precisely to make it 2-1.

On 72 minutes Rashford should have killed the game. Played in by the superb Fernandes, he was clear but miscued and hit the post.

Rashford would redeem himself. Pogba and Fernandes, by now in the groove, combined to feed Juan Mata. He chipped a ball beyond the back four, Rashford collected and this time finished cleanly for 3-1.

Really, United had only been any good for around 17 minutes. And yet during that spell they were as mesmerisin­g as they had been abject in the first 55 minutes.

WHY WASN’T POGBA GOAL RULED OUT?

 ??  ??
 ??  ?? STAR IN STRIPES: Rashford chips the keeper to seal victory
David Moyes (arrowed) was enraged when the assistant referee did not flag as keeper Dean Henderson’s long punt up field in the build-up to Paul Pogba’s equaliser seemed to curl out of play. Moyes reckoned the official, pictured looking for an offside offence, did not monitor the path of the ball from Henderson’s clearance.
STAR IN STRIPES: Rashford chips the keeper to seal victory David Moyes (arrowed) was enraged when the assistant referee did not flag as keeper Dean Henderson’s long punt up field in the build-up to Paul Pogba’s equaliser seemed to curl out of play. Moyes reckoned the official, pictured looking for an offside offence, did not monitor the path of the ball from Henderson’s clearance.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom