West Ham 1-1 Manchester United: Michael Carrick’s run of victories brought to an end
For Manchester United, this was a night of mixed feelings. On the one hand, vital three points were the undisputed target heading into this tie at the London Stadium, their opponents West Ham marooned in the relegation places.
On the other hand, after Tomas Soucek’s early second half opener appeared set to condemn them to a first defeat under Michael Carrick, Benjamin Sesko’s late intervention to rescue a point sparked jubilation and was surely a positive.
Before Tuesday’s affair United had failed to win any of their last four games against West Ham, their last victory coming in February 2024. Their last win as visitors stretches back even further to September 2021 when they won 2-1 under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
A win in Tuesday’s tie would have meant five wins out of five for United under Carrick, the pre-match atmosphere shrouded by talk of hirsute fan Frank Ilett, who pledged never to cut his hair until United have won five in a row. Two years since they last managed it the search continues.
Following a deeply underwhelming first half in which anything struggled to happen and every move seemed to be a bore, things soured for United in the second period after Jarrod Bowen and Soucek combined, the latter stealing in between Lisandro Martinez and Kobbie Mainoo to put the ball through the onrushing Senne Lammens’ legs.
Cue despair and 40 minutes of soul searching, player exchanges on United’s bench as Carrick, cool as a pane of glass on the touchline, struggled to keep his unbeaten record from ending at the hands of opponents that had clearly taunted them at the beginning with the record of their superiority in this fixture over the past half decade.
Matheus Cunha was replaced with Benjamin Sesko, Leny Yoro for Harry Maguire, and Joshua Zirkzee thrown on for Diogo Dalot as United searched for inspiration. Deep into added time and United’s tall Slovenian forward intervened, seizing upon Mbeumo’s cross to beautifully dispatch a first-time shot into the top corner.
Beyond spots of excitement that characterised both goals there was little else to be found in the tie. Aaron Wan Bissaka cleared off the line in the first period after Luke Shaw took aim from a corner kick but there was little else.
Going behind at least forced United to click through the gears. Frustration rose after the visitors were denied an equaliser by VAR for a knee caps’ worth of offside, Casemiro having got on the end of Mainoo’s cross after the hour and headed emphatically past Mads Hermansen.
There were some more efforts. Amad Diallo’s shout for a penalty was shrugged off. Sesko’s weak effort was comfortable for Hermansen, and with the clock ticking away in stoppage time Zirkzee sent a header just wide of the post. Then Sesko saved a point.
