Report and free match highlights as Marcus Rashford's 100th goal sends Man Utd up to fifth in the Premier League; West Ham unlucky not to leave Old Trafford with at least a point as David de Gea heroics preserve Man Utd victory
Monday 31 October 2022 11:43, UK
Marcus Rashford hit a century of goals as Manchester United clung on for a hard-fought 1-0 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
On the day Manchester United's record of featuring a homegrown player in every matchday squad extended to 85 years, academy product Rashford rose above the West Ham defence to dispatch a towering 38th-minute header as he became the 22nd player to score 100 goals for the club.
West Ham were a threat throughout but crucially lacked that killer final pass or finish, with inspired back-post defending from Diogo Dalot, wonderful saves from David de Gea to deny Kurt Zouma and Declan Rice, and a last-gasp block from Harry Maguire to thwart Jarrod Bowen, ensuring the Hammers' late rally ended fruitless.
It was another Old Trafford defeat for West Ham boss David Moyes, who remains winless from 16 visits as a Premier League manager, as the Hammers missed the chance to move above Liverpool into the top half of the table.
For Manchester United, this gritty victory extended their unbeaten run under Erik ten Hag to eight games in all competitions and lifted them up to fifth in the Premier League, a point outside of the top four.
Manchester United had seen off Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham at Old Trafford this season but struggled to immediately scale those heights against the Hammers, who grew into the game as the hosts failed to seize control of the contest.
Said Benrahma and Bowen exploited space vacated by Manchester United's disjointed defence without truly calling De Gea into action before the game's first moment of genuine quality yielded the breakthrough.
Christian Eriksen's intelligent exchange with Bruno Fernandes ended with the Dane whipping a sumptuous cross into the area which Rashford, after leaping above Hammers defender Thilo Kehrer, planted emphatically past Lukasz Fabianski.
Rashford looked to add to what was only his seventh header for Manchester United early in the second half, whistling a shot past the post after cutting in off the left, but the hosts failed to push on and instead invited more pressure from West Ham, with only the defensive awareness of Diogo Dalot keeping the visitors at bay.
Cristiano Ronaldo spurned three chances in three second-half minutes, heading Luke Shaw's cross over, blazing wide at the near post after latching onto Rashford's through pass, before seeing a shot deflect over the bar after Casemiro and Scott McTominay combined on the edge of the area.
The introduction of Michail Antonio gave West Ham added presence. Craig Dawson shot over from distance before Benrahma's low, bobbling shot forced a spill and recovery from De Gea with what was the Hammers' first attempt on target in the second period.
Six minutes from time, Zouma's deft flick forced a stunning save from De Gea before Fred missed the chance to put the game to bed when his header hit the frame of the West Ham goal.
It was a reprieve the Hammers nearly took full advantage of, with Harry Maguire brilliantly blocking Bowen's sweeping stoppage-time shot before De Gea's flying save to deny Rice got Manchester United over the line.
Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag told Sky Sports: "I think we made a great goal. It was magnificent, the pass from Christian Eriksen and then the header was really a hammer from Marcus Rashford.
"It's so great as it's a player out of the academy scoring his 100th goal and the 85th anniversary [of the academy] today. So he's really representing the work of Man United and it values the good work that the academy is doing. And Marcus Rashford, tomorrow is his 25th birthday as well. A great present I would say!
"In our philosophy you have to defend with 11. At the start, it was difficult but we are coming more and more to that point. We do it together, the spirit in the team is good you can see it in every header, they support each other and cover each other. The fans like it as well and you can see the bond that is coming and developing between the teams and the fans.
"In the second half we have to manage it better. But the spirit we have is fabulous. We have the quality to score goals, but attacking football effectiveness we have to improve that. But we are going in the direction, but being a threat is a long way to go."
West Ham manager David Moyes told Sky Sports: "If you look through the game, we have been really close. We deserved to come away with something. I don't think we could have done much more. We gave the ball away a bit too much and that led to Man United's goal but overall we played well. In the second half especially we took our chances.
"We know what a great keeper De Gea is, he was during my time here, and we hoped he wouldn't save one of those two chances. I'm pleased for De Gea because he is a great guy but disappointed that one of those didn't go in.
"Jarrod makes a great chance and we are just lacking that little bit of clinical edge. I have to praise our players, we put in a great shift today."
Marcus Rashford became the 22nd player to score 100 goals for Manchester United in all competitions and the first to reach that total since Wayne Rooney in 2009.
Marcus Rashford scored his fourth Premier League goal for Manchester United against West Ham, scoring in both games against them in 2022. He only has more league goals against Leicester (6) and Liverpool (5).
Manchester United travel to Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday at 5.45pm before heading to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday at 2pm.
West Ham travel to FCSB in the Europa Conference League on Thursday at 8pm before hosting Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday at 2pm.
