NOBILITY CITY
Manchester United 0 West Ham 1
League Cup Round 3
I remember once believing if two sides played each other over a single week, once in a cup game and once in the league, that you would never get the same result in terms of who won. I threw that theory away when West Ham played Everton twice at home over five days in 201? and managed to lose both games. I couldn’t bring myself to resurrect that old dead theory when Hammers drew Manchester United in their bye-bye League Cup Third Round fixture last month. I felt vindicated when they lost in the manner they did last Sunday afternoon.
This evening is odd in that if I’d have been Moyes I might well have put out the second string team that he has chosen to field, but I’d have felt justified in putting out Michail Antonio following his suspension for Sunday’s fixture. Mikey, however, is not even on the bench. West Ham haven’t won in their last seventeen visits to Old Trafford, but records are there to be broken, something that won’t be lost on debutants Areola and Kral.
Yarmolenko starts the Hammers well by setting up Bowen, who has a clean shot at goal but scuffs his shot somewhat. Then six minutes later, West Ham are ahead, Manuel Lanzini drilling home from the edge of the area after a neat passing build up involving Kral and Fredericks who, running past the touch line into the advertising hoardings, injures himself and looks not long for a role in the game. A minute later Lingard tussles with Mark Noble in the area and claims a penalty, but with no VAR available, the admittedly decent appeal vaporises into nothing. Serves him right, you might argue, for wanting to stay at the club rather than effect a permanent move to London Stadium. Areola subsequently produces a superb one handed back-peddling save from Juan Mata’s brilliant angled dipping volley. Fredericks now limps off to be replaced by Coufal.
Both Lanzini and Kral are in sparkling form, and link well in the middle of the pitch with Yarmolenko. Inspiring to see squad players at the heart of such a promising performance, especially with Manchester United looking less than half a team. Sancho is making a rare first team appearance since the arrival of Ronaldo, but cuts a rather lonely figure with Lingard and Van De Beek involved in most of the build up play down the right. Noble brings Lingard down again, this time just outside the area. If he’s trying to make a point, the Hammers’ captain has made it, and takes Mata out a couple of minutes later with a body check that a security guard at Stringfellows might have been proud of.
Areola looks like the international keeper he is, commanding his area effectively, never fazed by the antics of Manchester United’s overpaid reserve team. Bizarre that Manchester City struggle to get 30,000 at the Emptihad for some of their Champions League home games, whereas there are more than 70,000 here at Old Trafford tonight for this Carabao Cup Third Round tie. Hammers’ fans are making enough noise to suggest that half of that figure might be them.
What is most surprising about this game is how confident West Ham look, on and off the ball, and how clueless Manchester United seem to be, as if their side have all been drugged with some horse-tampering stimulant. Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood are already warming up, just ten minutes in to the second half. Yarmolenko remembers he is an international and fires just wide on the hour from outside the area. He goes even closer as the final whistle beckons, hitting the post when put through by Noble. Was it easier to score? Ask Noble, who just a minute later is put through by Bowen and this time he is the one who squanders a gilt-edged chance. It’s end to end in the last five but West Ham have the better chances, and Bowen sees his shot saved in front of the post by Henderson. Even four injury time minutes isn’t enough to save Manchester United, who exit the competition. West Ham have just under an hour to celebrate the victory until the Fourth Round draw pits them against Manchester City, a side who haven’t lost in this competition for five years. Well, it was good while it lasted.
13 Alphonse Areola, 31 Ben Johnson, 15 Craig Dawson, 23 Issa Diop, 24 Ryan Fredericks, 26 Arthur Masuaku, 7 Andriy Yarmolenko, 33 Alex Kral, 10 Manuel Lanzini, 16 Mark Noble (c), 20 Jarrod Bowen
Substitutes: 5 Vladimir Coufal, 8 Pablo Fornals, 11 Nikola Vlašić
Goalscorer: Manuel Lanzini
