Manchester United were excellent at both ends of the pitch in the win over West Ham at Old Trafford.
There was something strange going on in Manchester United’s match against West Ham at the weekend. With 20 minutes to go, the match was won. How many times have we been able to say that this season?
Erik ten Hag‘s side have had to scratch and claw for every point amid a tumultuous 2023/24 season, so it felt good to wrap this one up relatively early.
Manchester United won through a first half goal from Rasmus Hojlund and two from Alejandro Garnacho in the second.
David Moyes praises Diogo Dalot
West Ham manager David Moyes has struggled to get results at Old Trafford with visiting sides, a little bit like his track record at the stadium while Red Devils boss in 2013/14.
The Hammers boss spoke after the game and admitted his team lacked ruthlessness in the final third.
He told their club media: “We got some chances, but we just weren’t clinical when we got the moments.”
Their best moment came when Jarrod Bowen was through on goal in the second half and defender Diogo Dalot slid in to block his shot.
Moyes admitted: “Jarrod got through and Dalot did brilliant to make his recovery run and make the tackle.”
Moyes was wary of Manchester United duo
Moyes says he was particularly wary before the game of two Manchester United players, and set up his team to try and stop them.
He explained: “We were wary of Marcus Rashford and his ability to get forward, and Luke Shaw at left-back, but I thought Ben [Johnson] did a really good job for us.”
Moyes says Lisandro Martinez also made key intervention
Another big West Ham moment came at the start of the second half when the score was only 1-0 to Manchester United.
United were caught out as West Ham broke forward, but contained the situation, and Moyes commended Lisandro Martinez for how he dealt with it.
He explained: “Emerson was through, and maybe Jarrod should keep his run going and give him a square-pass option for the tap-in, or maybe it would effect [Lisandro] Martinez, who did a good job in defending and forcing Emerson to keep on the ball. And then, before you know it, you’ve lost the ball.”
Martinez suffered an injury later in the second half which did not look good, and Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag admits he is worried about it being a serious one.
