A Narrow Escape Victory for Man United Against West Ham As They Continue Their Top 4 Quest

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It was the first part of this week’s premier league matchday action, as Man United who haven’t been great lately hosted Westham at Old Trafford, a match that ended in a narrow victory for Man United and a crucial 3 points gained in their top 4 quest.

Man United are still not giving up in their top 4 race even though the table isn’t looking favorable for them at the moment. Nevertheless, the race isn’t over yet as there are still a couple of games left to play for Man United to try to achieve their ambitions. A lot of talking points have been raised ever since Solskjaer was made the permanent manager of the club and their performances and results of recent has further raised talking points concerning their top 4 chances, but this win was important for them as they continue their top 4 quest.

WestHam didn’t really have anything at stake for this game, but a positive result would have given them the necessary boost as they keep pushing to finish as high as possible on the table. It has not been a good month for them so far as their back-to-back losses could affect their hopes of finishing in the top half of the table especially if they fail to win most of their remaining games.

Brief Post-Match Analyses

The atmosphere at Old Trafford was good as the fans were expecting a positive reaction from the team and of course the 3 points after their disappointing past two weeks.

Man United lineup in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, while West Ham setup up in a 4-1-4-1 formation. The game began and it was pretty much end to end stuff, as both teams tried to impose themselves and be on the front foot early in the game. It was the red devils who got the early goal before the hammers got their deserved equalizer few minutes to the start of the second half, before giving away yet another penalty to give Man United the 3 points.

Pogba scored the first goal of the match in the 19th minute from the penalty spot, blasting the ball down the center to give the goalkeeper no chance.

Anderson canceled the Man United lead in the 49th minute, arriving early at the near post to slid the ball home.

Pogba scored the winning goal on the 80th minute from yet another penalty kick. This time, he decided to change direction, but still maintaining the power to beat the goalkeeper who guessed the right side.

Match Stats

According to the final major stats of the game, WestHam had the better stats in the match with a total of 18 shots, 4 on target, which found the back of the net. Man United, on the other hand,and had 14 shots in total, 4 on target.

WestHam had more possession in the game, 58% possession, 520 total passes made in the game and an 80% pass accuracy, While Man United had the other percentage of the possession, 374 passes played and a 77% pass accuracy. 14 fouls committed by Man United and 5 fouls by West Ham. Both teams had single yellow card each and no red cards and also 3 offside calls for both teams as well. 3 corner kicks for Man United and 11 for West Ham.

It was a much-needed victory for Man United, as they keep pushing to find their way into the top 4 once again.