West Ham United put in a brilliant performance to beat Manchester United 2-0 at Old Trafford, ending a 16-game run without an away league win against them.
After reaching the UEFA Europa League final during the week, Ruben Amorim made six changes to the West Ham starting line-up. Mason Mount returned to the team after scoring twice in midweek, and Amad Diallo also started for the first time since early February. Diallo looked lively early on, combining well with Bruno Fernandes, who sent one shot over the bar before testing goalkeeper Alphonse Areola with a stronger effort.
West Ham started slowly but grew into the game after 15 minutes, and United’s defence began to look shaky. James Ward-Prowse delivered a curling free-kick that Max Kilman headed over, but United’s luck ran out shortly after. Former United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka found Mohammed Kudus in space on the left. Kudus sent a low cross to the back post, where Tomáš Souček tapped it in to give the Hammers the lead. The goal seemed to drain the energy from both the United players and the fans, and the home side went in at half-time looking flat and frustrated.
After the break, West Ham stayed on top and almost made it 2-0 when Kudus set up Ward-Prowse, whose shot was saved by Altay Bayındır. Just minutes later, West Ham had to make a forced change when Leny Yoro picked up a foot injury, and United also brought on Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelöf for Luke Shaw and another defender. However, the changes didn’t fix United’s defensive problems.
Not long after, Manuel Ugarte lost the ball in his own half, and Kudus took full advantage, driving into the box. His shot was deflected, and Wan-Bissaka picked it up before passing across the goal for Jarrod Bowen to score West Ham’s second.
United finally showed some fight after going two goals down. Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Højlund both had chances, but poor finishing let them down once again. Højlund had a big opportunity after being set up by Amad, but Areola saved his close-range shot.
West Ham comfortably saw out the game and claimed their first win in nine matches. The result moves them above Manchester United in the table. United, meanwhile, drop to 16th place, and their winless run in the Premier League has now reached seven games – equalling their worst ever in the competition.
