EPL 2016/17: West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United - 5 talking points
It's an age-old adage in the Premier League that you need to win even on your worst days in order to make the cut for the top spots. Manchester United did just that last night, as despite a poor performance at the London Stadium they picked up all 3 points against a charged-up West Ham United side. The Hammers, who had a man send off in the early parts of the game were going strong despite their numerical inferiority and forced David de Gea to make some outstanding saves.
However, as it turned out, United finally responded and Juan Mata gave them the lead in the 63rd minute after some fine work on the wings from Marcus Rashford. Zlatan Ibrahimovic then doubled the lead with 12 minutes left on the clock with a snapshot, although he was a yard or so offside. It was the Swede's 18th goal in all competitions this season, and he has already overtaken Anthony Martial's 17-goal tally from last season.
It was the Red Devils' 6th Premier League win on the spin, a feat that had been unmatched since Sir Alex Ferguson's last season in charge. The win also sees them only 5 points off from 2nd place, which is a colossal change considering that they had been 9 points off from 4th place at the start of December.
Here are the 5 things we learnt from the game:
#1 David de Gea proves why he is one of the best, once again
When Sir Alex Ferguson brought him to Old Trafford back in 2011, most pundits doubted if he would make it to 25 appearances, let alone 250. But David de Gea did just that last night, and he marked the occasion with a string of fantastic saves.
In the first half, the Spaniard flew to his left to deny a wonderful curling effort from Manuel Lanzini, and repeated the effort, this time to his other side from the same player. However, his best save came against Michail Antonio after the break.
The Englishman had caught the United defence napping and bore down on his goal, but the Spaniard was up to the task. He covered his angles well and won the battle of wits in the one versus one as he deflected the shot with his shins. Juan Mata handed United the lead just two minutes later.
The former Atletico Madrid man is an elite level goalkeeper, and at 25 years of age, he is only going to get better. With such a wonderful range of shot stopping abilities, he might just go down as one of the greatest of all time as well.