Bowen and Kudus strike to sink Manchester United and lift West Ham
There goes David Moyes, leaving Manchester United in his wake. Late goals from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus were enough to lift West Ham over Moyes’s old side and heap more pressure on Erik ten Hag after another blunt display.
This was United’s fourth consecutive game without a goal, a run they never looked like ending here. West Ham were stolid and disciplined but ruthless when their chances arrived during the second half. Their past five goals in the league have all been made by Lucas Paquetá, whose creativity is a key reason for West Ham now being only four points behind Manchester City, albeit having played a game more. United could only pine for a player of the Brazilian’s class.
West Ham’s strong finish meant Moyes could argue that he was right to rest players when his side lost 5-1 at Liverpool in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday. Ultimately it did not matter that they initially struggled to take advantage of an injury crisis that forced United to replace the unwell Raphaël Varane with Willy Kambwala, the 19-year-old French centre-back, and put the debutant next to the 35-year-old Jonny Evans.
An opening that featured Emerson Palmieri testing André Onana with a bending shot from the right was not a sign of things to come. West Ham stuck to their usual template under Moyes, who put numbers behind the ball and looked for opportunities to counterattack, but United coped during a tepid first half. Luke Shaw was quick to engage with Kudus and Antony worked hard to help Aaron Wan-Bissaka limit Paquetá’s influence.
United’s big problem, though, remained their lack of flow in the final third. It hardly felt encouraging when one attack ended with Antony looking to his right and spraying a pass out for a throw-in. Rasmus Højlund also looked raw when he tried to burst past Kurt Zouma, who was too strong for the £72m striker.
The mind drifted to the stat showing that Bowen had more league goals this season than United’s entire starting 11. Conviction was elusive when an error from Kudus allowed Antony to play Alejandro Garnacho through. The winger opened up his body but his execution was poor and Alphonse Areola saved at his near post.
Garnacho had a chance to make amends after Paquetá and Konstantinos Mavropanos squandered possession. Still, at least United were pressing. Kobbie Mainoo, whose inclusion in midfield over Sofyan Amrabat was another sign of Ten Hag’s faith in youth, almost embarrassed Areola with a low shot from 20 yards.
West Ham needed to respond with more than hopeful huff and puff. Kudus drove forward at the start of the second half but Bruno Fernandes fouled him and earned a booking. Paquetá drifted inside and Bowen played a clever pass through to Emerson, who won a corner on the left. James Ward-Prowse delivered and Bowen, outmuscling Antony, saw Onana push his header over.
Ten Hag was concerned enough to bring Marcus Rashford on for Højlund, whose wait for a league goal goes on. United had dipped. Antony almost found space on the right, only to be squeezed out by Tomas Soucek and Paquetá after delaying his cross. Edson Álvarez stopped Garnacho with an important tackle.
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West Ham fell back again. Bowen, isolated up front, was struggling to hold the ball and swapped positions with Paquetá for a bit. But it was United who were on top. It took a crucial intervention from Zouma to stop Garnacho from converting Shaw’s cross.
Moyes responded with another rejig, shifting Kudus to the left and Bowen to the right. Without a fixed point in attack, West Ham became more dangerous. After 73 minutes Bowen dribbled inside, found Paquetá and kept running. Finally, some ingenuity. Paquetá’s scoop was beautiful and took Mainoo out of the game. With Shaw failing to cover, Bowen was free to take the ball in his stride and force the rebound in with a knee after Onana blocked his initial effort.
United were too blunt to recover from conceding first. Fernandes, their captain, was terrible and wasteful. United’s unravelling was not a surprise. The game was up when Mainoo lost possession to Kudus, who swapped passes with Paquetá before swerving to the right and driving an angled shot beyond Onana.