Lucky hugger Jose Mourinho has the referee and David De Gea to thank as Manchester United march on
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Jose Mourinho has regained that familiar glint in his eye and his touchline swagger.
Manchester United are on the march once more, six straight league wins - and seven overall - after Monday's 2-0 victory at West Ham pushing them to the brink of the top four.
Mourinho’s substitutions won the game, referee Mike Dean did his best to spoil it with a ridiculous red card and yet one of the most telling moments came at the final whistle.
The Special One marched onto the pitch, flung his arms around David De Gea and thanked his keeper for two brilliant, match-winning saves.
De Gea was the only player to get a hug from Mourinho.
United were not at their best, De Gea bailed them out and yet they still have an unstoppable momentum which has carried them menacingly from mid-table up to sixth.
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West Ham can count themselves desperately unlucky, because Sofiane Feghouli was harshly sent off after just 15 minutes for a challenge on Reds defender Phil Jones.
It was a decision which ultimately spoiled the game and must raise further question marks about Dean and whether he is good enough to referee at Premier League level.
He has now sent off five players in 15 games, more than any other Premier League referee and you can only sympathise with West Ham as it was a bad decision.
Feghouli did lunge in on Jones but Dean will surely regret giving a red card when he sees the incident again.
It was careless, but never a sending-off — and Jones’ corresponding challenge was every bit as bad.
In fact, a Cheikhou Kouyate foul on Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the second half was far worse and did not even bring a yellow card.
(Photo: Getty Images)
TV replays also showed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 78th minute clincher was offside, but by then there was almost an air of resignation about Dean’s ineptitude.
Video technology cannot come soon enough.
Man United did look jaded, suffering from playing two games in 48 hours having beaten Middlesbrough on Saturday and even though West Ham - who have had the same schedule - went down to ten men very early it did not look a mismatch.
The visitors should have gone ahead after 36 minutes but the Hammers survived one of the most incredible goalmouth scrambles you will ever see.
Ibrahimovic’s low cross found Mkhitaryan.
He pinged the ball across goal to Antonio Valencia, whose shot forced a remarkable save from West Ham keeper Darren Randolph.
The ball came back out to Jesse Lingard, who smashed the follow-up against a post from point-blank range.
(Photo: ikimages/REX/Shutterstock)
It was an incredible miss — and an amazing let-off as goal-line technology showed Valencia’s shot did not fully cross the line.
De Gea made a sensational save to deny Manuel Lanzini’s curling shot a minute before half-time and then Michail Antonio also wasted a great headed chance.
Mourinho threw Juan Mata on at half-time, then introduced Marcus Rashford after 58 minutes and the youngster’s pace and freshness put West Ham on the back foot.
But the game’s biggest turning point came after 61 minutes.
Lanzini threaded a ball to Antonio and the West Ham midfielder raced clean through, but De Gea made a brilliant block.
Two minutes later, Rashford tricked his way down the left, his turn fooled Harvard Nordveit and Pedro Obiang and he cut the ball back for Mata to fire home from 15 yards.
Mourinho’s brilliant double substitution had paid rich dividends and, down the years, it has been those moments which have made him such a successful manager.
Maybe the old magic is back.
(Photo: Getty Images)
(Photo: Getty Images)
West Ham had a let-off after 77 minutes when Randolph spilled Rashford’s shot against his own post, but their fortune ran out a minute later when the home side failed to clear, and Ander Herrera slid the ball through.
TV replays showed three players - including Ibrahimovic - were offside. But the Swede did not need asking twice, slamming a shot into the far corner for his 12th goal in 12 games.
No-one now should write off Manchester United from having a big say in the title run-in.