Marcus Rashford’s injury-time winner gave Manchester United a crucial 1-0 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League.
West Ham headed into the game in the fourth position, while United’s aim was to reclaim a place in the Champions League.
It went end to end in the first ten minutes with both teams making promising runs, but there was no meaningful chance for either side despite the fast pace of the game.
West Ham’s defenders were aware of the threat posed by Anthony Elanga and Cristiano Ronaldo. Similarly, Antonio had chances to counter-attack on the opposite end, but United was able to get men back and neutralize the threat.
Man Utd’s last 4 #PremierLeague goals:
⚽️ vs Anthony Elanga
⚽️ vs Mason Greenwood
⚽️ vs Marcus Rashford
⚽️ vs Marcus RashfordLa Carrington. 🤩🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/Z5k6OUf3X2
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) January 22, 2022
In the 20th minute, Bruno Fernandes picked out Ronaldo’s wonderfully timed run for United, but he failed to make contact with the ball as he attempted to head it in.
Dalot headed Elanga’s cross wide a few moments later. The Reds, on the other hand, were becoming more comfortable with the game.
Just before half-time, Ronaldo dashed into the box to head in Fernandes’s cross, and Zouma stayed close to him and won the ball. Despite the fact that there was contact, there was no penalty. Altogether, in the first half, no team attempted a single shot on goal.
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United got off to a better start in the second half, with a shot on target within the first five minutes. Fred was the one who hit it, causing Areola to make a spectacular save by diving to his right.
But it wasn’t all United, in the 53rd minute, as Bowen found himself in space after a corner kick, only to hit the side netting. In the 58th minute, Varane came close with a looping header from a corner, but it was just too high.
In the 60th minute, Anthony Elanga, who had been impressive moving forward as well as assisting the defense several times, came close to putting his name on the score sheet when he took the ball on the half volley for the first time, but his technique was poor and his shot was slightly off the goal.
United continued to press for a goal, but the clock was ticking.
In the 85th minute, it was Tomas Soucek who came closest for the Hammers with a header from a corner that fortunately went wide.
Substitute Marcus Rashford, however, struck the back of the net with a straightforward tap-in in the final minute of injury time. Ronaldo found Cavani, who appeared to be offside, and played it across the goal to Rashford, who scored a late winner. The fans went wild as we won the match at the death.
The Reds leapfrogged the Hammers into fourth place in the final action before the full-time whistle.
What’s next:
Manchester United will now face Middlesbrough in an FA Cup fourth-round match on the fifth of February.
