West Ham United vs Manchester United. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance62,474.
Report and free match highlights as Jarrod Bowen's injury-time pen wins it for West Ham; Casemiro cancelled out Crysencio Summerville's goal but Matthijs de Ligt judged to have fouled Danny Ings after long check by ref David Coote at pitchside monitor; Hammers up to 13th, ahead of Man Utd
Sunday 27 October 2024 20:52, UK
Jarrod Bowen scored a controversial 90th-minute penalty as West Ham grabbed a precious 2-1 win over wasteful Manchester United at the London Stadium to leapfrog Erik ten Hag's side in the table.
Casemiro looked to have rescued a point for the visitors after sub Crysencio Summerville had capitalised on some shocking first-half finishing to put West Ham ahead.
But there was drama in the final moments when ref David Coote was sent to the pitchside monitor by VAR Michael Oliver to examine a collision between Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings. Replays appeared to show the United defender clipping the ball with his thigh before catching the West Ham attacker on the lower leg but Coote - after a long review - decided there was enough contact to warrant a penalty.
Man Utd's players were incensed but Bowen kept his cool to find the bottom corner and send his side up to 13th in the table, ahead of Man Utd on goals scored.
It was a real hammer blow for Ten Hag, who had seen Diogo Dalot fire a miss-of-the-season contender over an unguarded goal in an opening 45 minutes which also included Alejandro Garnacho hitting the bar, Edson Alvarez heading against the frame of his own West Ham goal and Man Utd pass up a series of other good opportunities.
The pressure on Ten Hag will ramp up again. It's just one win in eight matches now for his side across all competitions. In contrast, the scrutiny on his opposite number Julen Lopetegui eases.
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag:
"Clear and obvious isn't how VAR worked. How they run their process. Before the season they explained the process of VAR - only when clear and obvious they should interfere. What they didn't do against Spurs, that was a wrong decision. And now they make a wrong decision interfering and both have big impact on the games. I don't criticise the personnel I criticise the process.
"We created so many chances, played so good football, especially in the first half. How I want my team to play in and out of possession. I [counted] six, seven 100 per cent chances we should have scored. That is a point of improvement. But overall I had not so many criticisms of my team, apart from not scoring.
"At this moment the luck is definitely not on our side. Last season was not different. Near the end we turned it around. We are so determined it will be the same case today. We have to turn this around and it will turn around if we keep playing like we are now - Brentford, Fenerbahce, today we played really good football."
Sky Sports' Peter Smith...
With 87 minutes on the clock there was contact between De Ligt and Ings in the box. Initially ref Coote didn't award a penalty. However, VAR Michael Oliver deemed there was sufficient contact on Ings' lower leg to recommend an on-field review.
Coote then spent around two minutes at the pitchside monitor watching replays of the incident.
It appeared that De Ligt made contact with the ball with his thigh before catching the West Ham attacker on the lower leg but ref Coote ultimately decided the challenge was a foul and awarded a penalty.
The consensus of journalists around us in the press box was that it would not be given as a penalty and there was shock when it was awarded.
Jamie O'Hara on Sky Sports News:
"That was re-refereeing the game. The on-field referee could see it, he didn't give it.
"There was not enough contact.
"That was not a proper foul. It's just a bit of contact in the box. The ball was bouncing and it wouldn't have made any difference to where that ball was going.
"That was not clear and obvious. That was not a massive error."
West Ham were transformed by a triple change at half time, when Lucas Paqueta, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Carlos Soler were swapped for Summerville, Jean-Clair Todibo and Tomas Soucek.
They could have taken the lead before Summerville's back-post finish from Ings' mis-hit when Emerson miscued a flick from Michail Antonio's cutback. And boss Lopetegui was encouraged by the second half showing after an at-times shambolic defensive display before the break.
"The first half they were better. The second half we changed and we deserved to win the second half. It's true they had chances and that's why we changed a lot. In the second half I think we were better than them.
"In the second half I'd like to highlight the commitment, the energy, the mentality and the support from our fans. When they equalised we didn't get down and we were able to beat one of the best teams in the world. We're happy and looking forward."
Sky Sports' Peter Smith:
Erik ten Hag said there were "six or seven 100 per cent chances we should have scored". Opta made it five clear-cut openings. But whatever the figure, this was another match in which Man Utd's poor finishing cost them.
The late penalty call will rightly be debated but Man Utd should have been out of sight by then. They could have been 4-0 up at the break against West Ham. Diogo Dalot made his entry for miss-of-the-decade, Alejandro Garnacho hit the bar and spurned another good chance after cutting in from the left, while Bruno Fernandes' drought goes on after he headed Casemiro's nice pass over the bar.
"At this moment, luck is definitely not on our side," added Ten Hag, after a game which also saw West Ham's Edson Alvarez head against the frame of his own goal.
But United's finishing problem is more than a matter of luck. It's too substantial an issue for that. Only Crystal Palace and Southampton (six) have scored fewer Premier League goals than United's total of eight this season. They have the biggest difference between Expected Goals and goals scored in the competition, with the stat suggesting they should have scored six or seven more than they have.
It is an issue of composure in the final third and precision in the key moment. United are missing that right now and it is costing them just as much as any controversial refereeing call.
A ball over the top from Fernandes found Dalot running in behind the West Ham defence. He clipped the ball past Fabianski and looked certain to score from the angle of the six-yard box - but somehow lofted his shot over.
There was no offside flag and the game restarted with a goal-kick. There was nothing to spare Dalot's blushes.
Sky Sports News' Paul Gilmour at London Stadium:
"Wow. The entire stadium braced themselves for that to hit the net but instead they're laughing in the home end.
"Dalot did the difficult part but has somehow missed an open goal.
"He didn't quite wait for the ball to come down enough and has lofted it over with the goal gaping."
