De Gea howler gifts the Hammers a much needed home win
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Finally caught up with all my editing of the matches from this season. Now I can focus on a season review, putting together the zine of the best photos from this year and I have been asked to collaborate on an exhibition. Looking forward to going through the photos and focusing on specific players as well. I’ll share these over the summer.
This result against Manchester United saw us go on an end of season run of form winning 5 of 7 matches, including two legged semi final of the Europa Conference League and of course our historic victory against Fiorentina in Prague for the trophy.
In the Premier League we came out of this match sitting more comfortably in 15th, seven points away from Forest in 18th with superior goal difference on all the teams below us. There was still a lot of work to do to secure our status for next season, as well as negotiating the final three games of the Europa Conference League, but this win felt like there was real hope of taking something positive from what has been a difficult campaign.
Looking back over the photos from the match we could have won this 4-0 except for missed opportunities and an offside and a foul. The six yard box scrambles entertained as much as they frustrated as we saw chance after chance slip through our fingers. To be honest, I really felt that Man Utd would sneak a draw in extra time, but we held on and to be fair the visitors didn’t really offer much in terms of a threat in front of goal.
The Reds needed to be up for this as their top four position was at risk and De Gea’s fumble of Benrahma’s soft shot on goal was a gift that we embraced willingly. You’re not going to be handed these too often from Man Utd that’s for sure, and it is what proved to be the difference between the sides at the final whistle.
Although United started brightly, once the home side score, they faded except for chances from Rashford, Erickson and Martial, who came closest to equalising in stoppage time, but Fabianski was equal to the shot and palmed it away.
For us Soucek had two chances and Antonio had one dissallowed for a foul on De Gea, who has in the past saved the Reds but today had left the chasers for 3rd and 4th place hoping to take the advantage this defeat gave them.
This match was the start of a hectic and challenging two weeks for the Hammers, but given the teams performance here it looked as if we were up for it with plenty of energy and desire to end the season on a high. The win did not mean the Hammers were technically safe, but unless there was a run of extraordinary results going against us, the win meant we could focus on the Europa Conference League and be more selective about our efforts in the Premier League.
Benrahma was awarded man of the match, but Declan Rice showed no ill effects from his illness the previous week and drove the team forward as they upped the pressure on the visitors to get another goal. At the final whistle, Moyes must have felt a certain satisfaction beating Man Utd for the first time since 2012 when he was managing Everton.
I hope you enjoy my photos from the match
Take care everyone
Dawud
From the Stands 