LONDON, England – West Ham United on Sunday rolled to a 2-0 victory over Manchester United in a Premier League contest held at London Stadium. Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, whose squad was missing Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial due to injury, once more relied on Juan Mata as a playmaker, Daniel James as a winger and Nemanja Matic and Scott McTominay as defensive midfielders.
Manchester United dominated possession of the ball and put the home side under pressure, but in vain. Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko drew first blood with one minute to go before the first-half stoppage time on a left-footed shot off a pass from West Ham captain Mark Noble.
The second half brought more bad news for Manchester United as Marcus Rashford was injured, leaving Solskjaer without forwards. Solskjaer then relied on Jesse Lingard as a striker.
Mata, meanwhile, squandered United’s clearest scoring chance when he failed to tip the ball into a practically wide-open net.
At the other end of the field, goalkeeper De Gea kept United’s hopes alive, especially when he brilliantly blocked an effort by West Ham’s Felipe Anderson. De Gea, however, was unable to stop a nicely executed free kick by Felipe Anderson with seven minutes to go before the second-half stoppage time.
With its first defeat since August 24, United dropped to the eighth spot in the league standings, with eight points.
West Ham, led by coach Manuel Pellegrini, is in fourth place, with 11 points.
News Services (U.S.) Inc., source EFE Ingles
