West Ham 1-2 Manchester United: Lingard haunts Hammers & De Gea saves penalty to seal comeback

 

Manchester United have now gone 29 away Premier League matches without defeat, Jesse Lingard securing their latest comeback victory.

Manchester United came from behind to beat West Ham 2-1 on Sunday as Jesse Lingard returned to haunt the Hammers in a dramatic contest at London Stadium.

The England international, superb on loan at David Moyes' side last season, curled in an 89th-minute winner after Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier cancelled out Said Benrahma's deflected opener.

West Ham had the chance to equalise in the fifth minute of injury time, but David de Gea saved a penalty from Mark Noble, who had come off the bench to take the spot-kick.

The visitors started positively but the best early chance fell to Jarrod Bowen, his shot blocked by Raphael Varane after Harry Maguire lost possession on the edge of his own box.

Buoyed by that chance, the Hammers began to play with more purpose and Bowen was denied by the foot of De Gea after Varane failed to clear.

Lukasz Fabianski got a fingertip to a Bruno Fernandes strike that came back off the right-hand post, and West Ham had their lead just three minutes later, Benrahma's attempt from the edge of the area taking a huge deflection off Varane and leaving De Gea with no chance.

Ronaldo wasted a good chance with a poor touch after what had been a frustrating half for the Portugal captain, but he was on hand to tap in an equaliser after Fabianski had kept out his first attempt from Fernandes' cross.

Ronaldo spurned a golden chance for a second barely a minute after the restart, Fabianski blocking at his feet after the Hammers had gifted the ball to Fernandes, as United built some more sustained pressure without creating many further openings.

Ronaldo had Vladimir Coufal worried when he skipped beyond him and went down after a clash of legs, but referee Martin Atkinson was unmoved and there was no intervention from VAR.

Substitute Lingard then produced a moment of magic, cutting in from the left and curling a spectacular effort well beyond Fabianski's reach to leave the home fans stunned.

Then came the final-minute drama. Ronaldo was floored by Kurt Zouma but again no penalty was given, and West Ham were given a spot-kick of their own as they attacked at the other end, Luke Shaw penalised for handball after Atkinson checked the monitor.

Noble was brought on and promptly took responsibility with the kick, only for De Gea to fly to his left and claw the ball away.

What does it mean? Solskjaer's Lingard faith vindicated

After the frustrations over their Champions League loss to Young Boys this week, Solskjaer made his feelings clear when he raced onto the pitch to join in the celebrations here.

The Red Devils are level with Liverpool on 13 points and their all-time record unbeaten run away from home now stands at 29 league games. And it was Lingard, warmly applauded by the West Ham fans before he came on, who delivered the goods – all after making the mistake that cost United a point in Berne.

Varane-guard

Unfortunate to deflect Benrahma's shot into the left-hand corner, Varane was otherwise an authoritative presence at the back for United.

With four clearances and seven regains of possession, as well as the most successful passes of any player (85), the centre-back again showed he is adapting quickly to life in England.

VAR is box-office comedy

Ronaldo could have won three penalties in the second half. It was particularly hard to justify not awarding one for Zouma's careless challenge.

For VAR then to intervene and Atkinson to penalise Shaw for handball made for quite the spectacle and had Solskjaer livid on the sidelines. De Gea's save, and the puzzling decision to bring on Noble for his first and only kick of the game, will spare only a little scrutiny on the way the technology is used.

Key Opta Stats: Ronaldo rolls on

- Aged 36 years and 226 days, Ronaldo is now the second-oldest player to score in consecutive Premier League appearances for United, behind only Ryan Giggs (39y 86d). - United are unbeaten in their last 14 away games in the Premier League when conceding first (W10 D4), including a 3-1 victory in this fixture last season. - Lingard became the 47th player to score for and against West Ham in the Premier League. Excluding own goals, West Ham have had more players score for and against them than any other side in the competition. - De Gea saved his first penalty in the Premier League since October 2014 (v Everton), with this being the 22nd top-flight penalty he has faced since his last stop.

What's next?

These sides meet again at Old Trafford in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.