There's plenty of time to eat in the Best Meze Cafe before the 8.15pm kick -off. Matt and Lisa are here having enjoyed a visit to the brutalist bus station in Preston after the Burnley match. Strangely our halloumi mushrooms and falafel arrive on time, though the chips appear at the end of seven additional minutes.
Inside the stadium we find Nigel, Big Sam and Big Sam's podcast mate. On a misty rainswept evening under the lights this feels like a proper fixture. United have won four in a row under ex-Hammer Michael Carrick and Nigel and myself agree we'd be happy with a point against a club in form and in the top four. Potts comes in for Wilson as Nuno strengthens the midfield. Encouragingly Disasi is able to play twice in four days after not starting all season.
Not too much happens in the first half. Bowen heads a cross wide and then Jimmy Summerville cuts inside and forces a save from Lammens. From a low corner Wan Bissaka has to clear Shaw's shot off the line. What is apparent is that the Irons are competing really well. Disasi and the Greek Bloke look solid at the back, Soucek is getting in tackles and Taty is chasing everything despite referee Simon Hooper ignoring the repeated manhandling of both Taty and later Callum Wilson.
Incredibly the Irons take the lead after 50 minutes. Diouf punts a long ball downfield. Bowen heads to Soucek, gets the ball back and races down the right wing. His low cross is expertly turned home by Soucek who has got in front of Shaw and wheels away doing his windmill celebration. Nigel says it's going to be a long second half. It's the hope we can't take. That's now 39 Premier League goals for the great survivor Tomas. Three managers have tried to drop him but the Czech keeps bouncing back.
United look to have equalised when Casemiro gets between two defenders to head home, only to be ruled offside by an arm. Inspired by this the crowd really get behind the home side with chants of, "West Ham are massive!" going round the stadium. It's one of the best atmospheres since our European games, possibly helped by an extra 15 minutes in the pub.
Nuno brings on Wilson for Taty and then Magassa for Potts, while Carrick throws Sesko up front for United. Every thirty seconds on the clock seems to take forever. Fernandes messes up a promising free kick and some of West Ham's corners are poor too. But apart from a low shot from Sesko saved by Hermansen we seem to be holding on for an epic win.
FERGIE TIME
Seven minutes of Fergie Time is announced, which seems excessive. Nuno possibly tinkers too much by taking off Bowen and Summerville for Traore and Walker-Peters. West Ham have a great chance to make it two when Wilson breaks breaks from his own half only to have his shot blocked by Yoro when he could have passed to the unmarked Magassa. A minute later Magassa skips past Martinez to release Toure, whose shot is blocked again by Yoro.
West Ham have an escape when Zirkzee's header flicks just wide of the post. Surely we can now hold on for a morale-boosting three points that will see us go level with Forest? Only Mbuemo has worked hard and looked dangerous all game. Scarles, on for Diouf and not helped by Traore, doesn't get close enough to the United man who crosses into the box. Disasi is tight on Sesko but somehow the United striker manages to flick the ball up into the top corner with a great finish. Sod it. Disasi beats the ground in frustration.
"That's why we're going down!" declares Matt. Twenty points lost from winning positions. The Vicar's Son then launches into an existential howl of rage at Nuno's use of subs, Ollie Scarles for not closing down and the unfeeling nature of the cosmos, as Lisa checks out wellness retreats in San Francisco.
We retreat to Ye Olde Black Bull for a pint of Brixton Pale where TNT seems to be a Man United fan channel screening long interviews with Michael Carrick and Slabhead Maguire. Still, West Ham have played well tonight and the players can be proud of their performances. We're all deflated but at the end of the season a point against a top four side may well seem like a decent result. We go again and on tonight's form there's still some hope left. Irons!
PLAYER RATINGS: Hermansen 6; Wan-Bissaka 7; Mavropanos 7, Disasi 6, Diouf 6 (Scarles 5); Soucek 8, Potts 6 (Magassa 7), Fernandes 7; Bowen 7 (Traore n/a), Castellanos 6 (Wilson 6), Summerville 7 (Walker-Peters n/a).
1 comment:
Mbuemo was sensational all game. All the late goals against us suggest that most of our players are nowhere near his fitness levels. VS.
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