Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Aaron Cresswell gave West Ham a deserved 2-0 win over Manchester United at the London Stadium. The away side lacked the cutting edge going forward and Marcus Rashford was forced off injured at the hour mark.
West Ham United ran out 2-0 winners in their Premier League clash with Manchester United at the London Stadium. It was a fairly even first half in which chances were at a premium before a livelier second half, but United were unable to penetrate the Hammers' back line.
The Hammers were positive from the off and were the better team in the first 10 minutes without really creating too much. United then brightened up and Matic had the first shot on goal after 15 minutes when his 35 yard strike was easily caught by Fabianski and the away side then managed to win a couple of corners which came to nothing. Yarmolenko then tested De Gea before Rashford showed some skill 21 minutes in.
Rashford dribbled past Diop on the near side and charged into the area before he took a poor touch and Rice dispossessed him. It was one of the few moments of the quality for most of the first half.
West Ham then countered, but Fornals took too long over the ball and Wan-Bissaka came racing in to knock it for a throw before three minutes later, in the 36th minute, West Ham tried a training ground routine. Fornals passed it to Noble outside the area and his volley towards goal was deflected by a defender straight to De Gea. The Hammers then had a five minute spell with 78% possession before they finally found the breakthrough in the 44th minute with a superb team goal.
Noble could not find a way through so he passed to Anderson and he flicked it first time to Yarmolenko. The Ukrainian took a touch and turned before firing home with his left foot. That gave Pellegrini's men a huge lift going into the break.
The second half was much more eventful than the first as United tried to find an equaliser and they neary did so after just three minutes. McTominay passed to Pereira and his cross was perfect, but Mata could not quite hit the target at the far post. Yarmolenko then tested De Gea from outside the box seconds later before Fabianski denied McTominay in the 57th minute. Then, United suffered a major blow.
Marcus Rashford pulled up inside the West Ham when there was no one near him as he looked to pull a muscle. And it nearly got worse for them as De Gea had to make a great save with his tight knee to deny Anderson after Yarmolenko played him in.
Six minutes later, Man Utd thought they were level, but Fabianski had other ideas. Maguire won the header from a corner, McTominay held the ball up inside the six yard box before Maguire's strike was saved tremendously by Fabianski. That ended up being United's best chance of the game. Fabianski and Yarmolenko then denied James and Lingard respectively 12 minutes from time before Aaron Cresswell sealed the deal in the 84th minute.
The home side won a free-kick just outside the box and Cresswell hit it with his left foot over the wall and into the top corner. De Gea got a hand to it, but had no chance. Daniel James nearly set up a grandstand finish three minutes later when he hit the sidenetting and West Ham played out time to seal a huge win.
The hosts now go into fourth behind Leicester on goal difference while United remain in seventh and lost a key player in Rashford go off to injury. West Ham had a great game while United were really disappointing and lacked the killer ball to break down West Ham.