There are some Sunday afternoons when the national sport is laying into Manchester United’s latest capitulation under Erik ten Hag. On this occasion, though, United’s inability to take their chances and sustain a performance was only one part of the story. The other, unfortunately for Ten Hag, centred around the cold, interfering hand of a video assistant referee stepping in with the advice that ended with West Ham being awarded the penalty that brought Julen Lopetegui a baffling but precious 2-1 win.
Good luck to anyone trying to draw definitive conclusions from this mess. West Ham were awful before Lopetegui impressively took decisive action at half-time, a triple substitution tilting the contest in his side’s favour, but they still needed an almighty helping hand from the officials to claim the points. It had looked little more than a coming together when Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings challenged for a bouncing ball in United’s area in the dying stages. There was not much of an appeal from the home crowd and there were not many complaints from West Ham when David Coote, the on-pitch referee, decided there was insufficient contact to blow up.
Yet it was not long before Michael Oliver, one of the game’s leading officials, was checking in from Stockley Park to tell Coote to check the pitchside monitor. Incredulity fell over United at the technological creep, for they knew what was coming. De Ligt pleaded his case, insisting that Ings had dived, but the outcome was inevitable and Jarrod Bowen, West Ham’s captain, stayed cool from the spot to hand Ten Hag a third consecutive defeat in this corner of east London.
These marginal calls are not why VAR was introduced. They warp games, although it should also be acknowledged that United could have made sure they would not be vulnerable to the whims of a referee. There were some glaring misses from Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Rasmus Højlund and Diogo Dalot at 0-0 and it also did not reflect well on Ten Hag that his team were unable to respond to West Ham’s second-half improvement.
Ultimately United are 14th for a reason. They faded when West Ham finally imposed themselves, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s surges up the right flank a constant feature, and it was not a surprise when Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring with his first goal in a claret and blue shirt. “We deserved to win the second half,” Lopetegui said.
The Spaniard was spot-on and he was delighted West Ham’s heads did not drop after Casemiro headed in an equaliser with 10 minutes left. For Lopetegui, this needs to be a turning point. West Ham were fast and aggressive after waking up, with Michail Antonio bullying United’s centre-backs, Edson Álvarez, Guido Rodríguez and Tomas Soucek dominating midfield and Summerville, a surprise omission from the starting lineup, superb after his introduction.
Not that Ten Hag was wrong to insist it should have played out differently. West Ham seemed caught between two stools at first, their approach neither to seize the initiative nor to break at speed. Carlos Soler was an odd selection over Summerville with Mohammed Kudus suspended and there was rarely much pressure on United’s buildup play.
This was how Casemiro and Christian Eriksen like it – nice and sedate – and the chances duly followed. Garnacho, a lively if erratic presence on the left, hit the bar and bent a shot wide inside the opening eight minutes.
The Argentinian had space because of Wan-Bissaka drifting inside to operate as an inverted full‑back and United continued to create. Lukasz Fabianski, in for Alphonse Areola after the thrashing at Tottenham, denied Højlund and Casemiro. Fernandes headed over and Marcus Rashford dithered when through on goal. Álvarez almost scored an own goal.
United kept pushing, some of their passing sequences catching the eye, and the opener looked certain when Dalot rounded Fabianski after breaking on to Fernandes’s pass. Perhaps, though, defeat was inevitable after the right-back fired high and wide of the gaping net.
West Ham could not continue to play so badly. Lopetegui reacted, Summerville, Soucek and Jean‑Clair Todibo on for Lucas Páqueta, Soler and the injured Konstantinos Mavrapanos, and the mood changed. Wan-Bissaka began to overwhelm Noussair Mazraoui. Emerson Palmieri missed a sitter.
United were flailing, Rashford flimsy before making way for Amad Diallo, and they were punished. Garnacho lost possession, Rodríguez stepped in and Bowen darted forward. The winger found Ings, who had just come on, and his scuffed shot was turned in by Summerville at the far post.
Ahead through their first shot on target, West Ham sat back. It was a mistake. United were level when Diallo recycled a set piece. Dalot and Joshua Zirkzee, on as a substitute, headed on for Casemiro to score the goal that looked set to earn Ten Hag some respite – until Oliver took over.
