Manchester United 2-1 West Ham United: 5 talking points from the game

Manchester United got back to winning ways with a narrow victory over West Ham United thereby keeping their Champions League hopes alive. Paul Pogba kept his nerve scoring two decisive penalties to get United the all-important three points. It was an uninspired performance by the Red Devils but did just enough to close the gap to 2 points from Chelsea who sit in the fourth position.

With a huge Champions League tie against Barcelona on the horizon, Solskjaer decided to rest a few of his players and will be relieved to see his team get over the line after a shaky display by his side. West Ham were thoroughly impressive and looked to secure a double over United after their success against them earlier in the season. However, luck wasn’t on their side as some errors and debatable decisions cost them the game.

Here let us look at the 5 talking points from the game:

5] The big guns step up:

It wasn’t a vintage performance by no means but United’s star players stepped up to the occasion. After a poor run of performances, Pogba had one of his better displays yesterday and put in a shift defensively and contributed on the attacking front. His short penalty run up without the stutter was a welcome sight for the United faithful.

Meanwhile, David De Gea made amends for his earlier errors when he gave the ball away to Declan Rice for the opener and then made a weak attempt to keep Anderson’s shot out by making some brilliant saves in the second half. He was again instrumental in ensuring United come away with the three points.

Marcus Rashford too made a huge difference when he came on from the bench in the second half and he had some glorious chances to put United ahead before Pogba scored the winning goal. On a day where United weren’t at their best, it’s big name players rose highest to pull United over the line.