West Ham 0-2 Manchester United: Mata and Ibrahimovic seal win for Mourinho's men
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Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck in the second-half to earn Manchester United a hard-fought sixth league win on the spin at ten-man West Ham .
The Hammers suffered a huge early setback when Sofiane Feghouli was shown a straight red for lunging in on Phil Jones.
United struggled to make their numerical advantage count and had to wait until the 63 minute for the opener.
Minutes after a vital stop from David de Gea, two subs combined for the goal as Marcus Rashford cut the ball back for Mata to sweep United into the lead.
Ibrahimovic fired in his 18 goal of the season with 12 minutes left and the goal stood despite the Swede standing in an offside position.
1. Red card ruins game
For the second game running Mike Dean was in the spotlight after handing out another contentious red card.
Dean, who controversially sent off Southampton's Nathan Redmond last week, dismissed Sofiane Feghouli for lunging in on Phil Jones, just 15 minutes in.
At first look – what the referee gets – it looked a bad challenge but this was no knee-jerk decision.
(Photo: West Ham United via Getty)
Dean didn't rush to show a red, instead taking his time to think about it and possibly consult with his fellow officials, before going to his pocket so he must have been convinced.
He seemed to be one of few inside the London Stadium who was.
The decision effectively ruined the game as a spectacle and West Ham fans were in no doubt were certain Dean was to blame, chanting “Mike Dean, it's all about you.”
Having given that one, the decision not to then dismiss Cheikhou Kouyate for a two-footed, over the top lunge on Henrikh Mkhitaryan was surprising.
But to rub salt in West Ham's wounds Zlatan Ibrahimovic was offside when he blasted in United's late second.
2. De Gea celebrates 250 Manchester United appearance in style
(Photo: PA)
At times, in his early Manchester United days, you wondered if he might get to 25, let alone 250, such was the rough ride he had.
But the Spaniard has developed into one of the world's best stoppers.
And even against ten man West Ham he provided further reminders of just how important he has become to United.
With his teammates toiling to break down ten man West Ham, they needed De Gea to keep them in the game.
He pulled off an early save to deny Manuel Lanzini before flying full-length to his right to tip away another effort from the Argentinian.
But his one-on-one save from Michail Antonio was arguably the most crucial. De Gea won the battle of wits when Antonio bore down on his goal and blocked the West Ham man's effort with his shins.
Two minutes later Juan Mata put United ahead.
3. West Ham team selection
(Photo: REUTERS)
Slaven Bilic's starting team could easily be read as a timely message to the West Ham board.
Because if they were in any doubt about the need to dig deep for a striker this month they won't be now.
Bilic started without a natural frontman, perhaps underlining his shortage of options in that department.
Andy Carroll was benched, perhaps understandably after playing 90 minutes at Leicester on Saturday.
But he was joined on the bench by Andre Ayew, who could have played, and Ashley Fletcher, two who could have started if Bilic felt they were up to the task.
4. Miss of the season
(Photo: Reuters)
There weren't too many chances to get excited about in the first half but one Manchester United created led to a miss of the season contender.
How they failed to score in the 36 minute was a mystery, especially when they had two bites at the cherry.
Antonio Valencia had the first but he could only fire Henrikh Mkhitaryan's cross straight at Darren Randolph from a few yards out despite having the whole goal to aim at.
But Jesse Lingard's miss was even worse as he somehow contrived to scuff the ball against the post despite also having an open goal, plus Randolph out of the equation and on the floor.
5. Rashford the game changer
Marcus Rashford provided a reminder of how useful an option he is by playing a huge part in United winning this game.
Before he came on their play was way too pedestrian.
West Ham only had ten men from the 15 minute onwards but Jose Mourinho's men were playing at way too slowly to capitalise.
Their testimonial pace allowed West Ham to get back into their defensive shape and the visitors were hardly tiring out their hosts.
(Photo: Action Images via Reuters)
But United finally had a bit of pace injected into their game once Rashford came on in the 58 minute.
Five minutes later he burst down the left and cut the ball back to set up Mata's opener which set United on the way to victory.