“He was accused two or three months ago of losing his magic, of not being able to influence games anymore, but he’s influenced the game enormously today”. I think if you talk about decisions, we are the champions of bad decisions.
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The second goal does not come for West Ham, however, with Manchester United slowly gaining back their foothold in the final 20 minutes.
Arindam is ESPN FC’s Manchester United correspondent.
The Hammers brought in a host of new faces over the summer, but very few of them have had the desired impact for Bilic’s side, with the likes of Alvaro Arbeloa, Gokhan Tore and Simone Zaza all struggling.
Manchester United will be without Eric Bailly as he heads to the African Nations Cup. It took a miraculous comeback to get the win against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford in their last game.
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United pressed high up the pitch and had some possession close to the West Ham box, but creativity proved to be a major issue, as the last ball often fell short. The foul is (by) Phil Jones.
United stay sixth despite their excellent form, while West Ham remain 12th.
On the other side, Slaven Bilic may be without captain Mark Noble who is a game time decision due to injury concerns.
Manchester United recorded their sixth consecutive Premier League win in controversial circumstances, with second-half goals from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic giving them a 2-0 win over a ten-man West Ham. They have many games, four competitions.
With a man-advantage, the Red Devils obviously dominated proceedings.
In fact, the Swede’s performance in front of goal is one of the main reasons why United are still in with a chance of a top-four finish.
With the Red Devils possesing many quality players, two players in particular enjoy playing against the Hammers. “He’s always selected, he’s on the team, he’s on the bench when he doesn’t start”.
The England striker was introduced after 58 minutes at London Stadium and created the opening goal five minutes later, wriggling free down the left flank before pulling the ball back for fellow substitute Juan Mata to score.
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The sending off ultimately changed how the game would play out – with West Ham sitting deeper and making it hard for United to create anything through the centre of the park. I have to be honest though, if Antonio scored, we would have lost.
