Krishnan Sreekumar
West Ham manager David Moyes downplays controversy on Manchester United winning goal
As per Manchester Evening News, West Ham United boss David Moyes claims he had no issues with Manchester United’s winning goal. He is happy to place his faith in VAR as the Hammers narrowly went down 1-0 at Old Trafford in the dying minutes of the game.
West Ham were resilient throughout the game, making it hard for the Red Devils to cut through them easily and attack their goal but were undone at the death. We however prevailed thanks to a 93rd-minute winner from second-half substitute Marcus Rashford after striker Edinson Cavani laid the ball for the Englishman to tap home.
Speaking to the media in his post-match press conference, Moyes admitted that he was frustrated with the way his side switched off in the final seconds to allow Man United to claim a dramatic winner. Rashford’s winner saw Moyes’s side go from gaining a valuable point to dropping all three.
“We defended well enough but we completely switched off, we didn’t do things you learn as a young player when trying to see games out.”
The winning goal, however, seemed to be marred in controversy after footage showed Cavani very close to being called offside. This despite the Premier League releasing an image that showed he was being played onside by Hammers’ star Craig Dawson. Plenty of Hammers fans have voiced their disdain and were said to be unconvinced by that explanation.
The Red Devils struggled to break down West Ham’s resolute rearguard in the first half, and Man United interim manager Ralf Rangnick responded in the second half by bringing on three strikers to try and secure a winner before the final whistle. The move certainly paid dividends as the Red Devils ended the game with four forwards on the pitch, with all of them combining to help claim all three points at Old Trafford.
Despite all the talk regarding the goal, Moyes showing his faith in VAR displays his professionalism. He, however, found it hard to accept Rashford’s late winner and declared that he was “p****d off with that result. Given how close the Hammers came to securing a point, one can understand the frustration.
“I’ve not seen it again, by all accounts everyone seems to think it’s fine so we have to trust VAR that they’re getting decisions right.”
Credit must be given to the Hammers for coming up strong at Old Trafford as the London side mostly held their own. They even managed to scare the Man United supporters at times from set-pieces and by making darting runs into the penalty box. Moyes will consider himself unlucky to come away from Manchester without picking up a point in what was a valiant effort from his side.
It took four of United’s best attackers in the dying minutes of the match to find a winner for the home side, as they combined well on the left-hand side to send us into the top four of the league table after weeks. Rangnick decided he had seen enough in the second half and took the risk by bringing on all his forwards available on the bench, which proved to be a masterstroke by the time the referee blew the final whistle.
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With last night’s win, we go into an international break winning two Premier League games on the spin, and Rangnick will hope that this sparked a turnaround in the club’s fortunes this term. Man United have been underperforming of late, given the talent at their disposal and the German will hope that we can kick on from now and end the season strongly.
Our never-say-die attitude in this game will have pleased the boss, and given the fans something to talk about for the next few weeks. We can hope that our players return from the break without any injuries as we look to climb the league standings and guarantee Champions League qualification.
