Manchester United defeated West Ham last night 1-0, Mason Greenwood was extremely impressive during the match and was easily talkmanunited.com’s man of the match.
The first 20 minutes of the match consisted of a lot of posturing, like boxing when the fighters want to feel each other out. A lot of probing from Man United with their passing and West Ham staying tight and disciplined defensively.
In the 25th minute Mason Greenwood broke that trend when he sent in a beautifully weighted back post cross for Marcus Rashford only for the chance to be woefully missed.
In the 30th minute Greenwood attempted a low cross after a good run. Greenwood looked good centrally linking up well with Bruno Fernandes and when he got wide he was taking on defenders.
Greenwood then had a left footed curling shot pushed on to the post in the 37th minute by Lukasz Fabianski.
United scored on a corner in the 53rd minute when a Bruno Fernandes corner was turned in by West Ham defender Craig Dawson. Mason Greenwood on the play before found space and sent in a low cross that forced West Ham to concede the corner that United converted.
Mason Greenwood had another shot hit the post in the 77th minute, this time rattling the post after a blast from a Man United counter attack, he was unlucky not to score.
Greenwood passed the ball efficiently throughout, linking well with everyone around him, creating two good chances, hit the post twice and looked to take on defenders every chance he got, a stark contrast to the AC Milan match.
If he would have finished his chances we would have given a higher rating, but his 7.5 is still the best on the day.
Player Ratings
GK- Dean Henderson: 6, West Ham had no shots on target, so not much for him to do, he looked a little nervy on some crosses and set pieces, he fell awkwardly on a deflected cross early in the game. He dealt with them well enough to keep a clean sheet.
RB- Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 6, Did well on the right, West Ham had no success going down the right even when they subbed on Said Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini. Wan-Bissaka going forward was indifferent, he provided a good outlet for passes and moved the ball quickly when he had it.
CB- Victor Lindelof: 6, Had to little to do also, which is the obvious trend with the defense. He used his speed and positioning well to keep the speed of Antonio in check on the counter, like Wan-Bissaka he moved the ball well when he had it. United had 62% of the possession in the game.
CB- Harry Maguire: 7.0, Maguire’s leadership at the back as on display against West Ham, he kept the lines tidy, organized and put the rest of the defense in a position to handle any threat West Ham offered going forward. The defense did well on set pieces to quell West Ham’s height and heading prowess. West Ham offered very little going forward and it is a little harsh to punish the United defense for that. As a unit they were better than the individual and Maguire deserves the most credit for putting the defense in position to keep a clean sheet.
LB- Luke Shaw: 6.5, Solid at the back like his defensive teammates, moved the ball well and was good going forward like he has been all season. An assist or some good shots could have boosted his rating, another strong showing for Luke Shaw.
CM/CDM- Scott McTominay and Fred: 6, They were both disciplined in the middle, both had some good advanced passes to put teammates in good positions offensively. They both stuck to the script and were mistake free. A McTominay missed header created the goal on the corner, he tried to claim it though, sneaky. Good game for both.
CAM- Bruno Fernandes: 7, Very rarely has Bruno had a bad game, he was good on the day, great passing. Forced a decent save out of Fabianski with a shot from outside the box, linked well with Greenwood. His corner was put in such a dangerous spot that the own goal is basically his in a way.
RM/RW- Daniel James: 6, Everyone gets at least a 6 because of how good of a performance it was as a team, everyone did their job, some slightly better. James ran well and was better passing than he has been. James makes valuable runs that create space for his teammates. West Ham likes to attack down the left especially with Aaron Creswell, who can play a nice cross, James tracking back helped eliminate that threat.
LM/LW- Marcus Rashford: 6, Unlucky to have one of the not so good games on the day. Rashford should have done better on the header in the 25th minute, he knew it too. Rashford ran well with his teammates, if Greenwood went wide Rashford would get inside, he was always willing to run to help set up a teammate by forcing a defender to go with him, doing this gave his teammates more 1v1 opportunities with defenders.
