Evening news round-up for Sunday 27/11/16 by 337hammer.

Sakho strike earns Hammers crucial Old Trafford point.

Diafra Sakho’s early opener was cancelled out by Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the Hammers were held by Manchester United in the first of two trips to Old Trafford in four days on Sunday. In only his second appearance of the season, the Senegalese headed brilliantly past David De Gea to give the visitors a second minute lead, but United’s Swedish talisman grabbed the leveller less than 20 minutes later. A string of superb Darren Randolph saves kept the hosts at bay throughout the second half, and Slaven Bilic’s men collected a crucial Premier League point ahead of Wednesday night’s EFL Cup quarter-final. whufc.com

Our first goal by a striker this season! How did you rate Sakho? What about Ashley Fletcher; what did you think of his performance when he came on?

Bilic – It’s a great point.

He explained: “It might have been more, okay we had a great chance, but it is a great point for us. “We have to praise their players, who showed their quality, but we showed our quality too, especially in the second half. “In the first half, from the time we scored until they equalised we lost too many balls.

“To be fair, they we better in the first half, but in the second half we closed the game up on them and I was pleased with how we played. “We were a bit more attacking [in our mentality] in the second half, which is not easy to do at Old Trafford. “They try to press when you have the ball, and if you get out of that press then you have the space they leave behind. “We were using that better in the second half and we could have scored, but they had a couple of chances too and it is a really good point for us.” whufc.com

Where you pleased with the point?  Where you optimistic about getting anything at Old Trafford? What will this performance and result mean for Wednesday nights cup game?

Manchester United 1-1 West Ham –  West Ham player ratings:

DARREN RANDLOPH – 8.5. Top save from Rashford, even if the striker should have done better. A calming influence between the sticks when West Ham were up against it. String of fine saves, too – particularly late on.

MICHAIL ANTONIO – 7. Licence to join in from right back, Antonio sneaked forward undetected a few times and is forever dangerous. Doubled up with Angelo Ogbonna to snuff Rashford out.

CHEIKHOU KOUYATE – 7. Assured as one of the back line, doubling up as play shifted wide and tucking in when required.

JAMES COLLINS – 6. Might have felt he should’ve done better for Ibrahimovic’s equaliser, although acted as a firm barrier under heavy pressure thereafter.

ANGELO OGBONNA – 7. Performed an absolutely heroic block seconds before half-time, diving in front of Ibrahimovic as he pulled the trigger with goal gaping.

AARON CRESSWELL – 6.5. Showed Lingard inside well and found himself in United’s final third a few times as West Ham broke. Threw himself in front of crosses.

DIMITRI PAYET – 7. Quality on the ball, his delivery from wide for West Ham’s second-minute opener was testament to that.

PEDRO OBIANG – 6.5. Industrious in the middle of the park, kept United’s runners from deep in check.

MARK NOBLE – 8. Barely noticeable, everything done on auto pilot. Switched play effortlessly, tracked runners. Very strong evening.

MANUEL LANZINI – 6.5. Did the dirty work well, which will please Slaven Bilic given the Hammers did not see much of the ball.

DIAFRA SAKHO – 7.5. Only his second game back this season and marked it with a bullet header early. Up there on his own and did the job manfully until being forced off.

SUBS

ASHLEY FLETCHER (for Sakho, 66) – 6.5. Not given any sort of reception on his return to Old Trafford. One very dangerous ball in which begged for a runner. So close to clinching it in the 87th minute but De Gea stood strong.

ANDRE AYEW (for Lanzini, 74) – 6. Fresh legs as West Ham tried to see the game out.

SOFIANE FEGHOULI (for Payet, 90). Time-wasting substitute. dailymail.co.uk

Do you agree with these player ratings? Who was your West Ham ‘Man of the match’?

Randolph admits West Ham ‘rode their luck’ in Manchester United draw.

Randolph was in inspired form between the sticks, producing a succession of saves to keep the Red Devils at bay as the east Londoners moved a point clear of the relegation zone. And the Republic of Ireland international has conceded that West Ham got the rub of the green at Old Trafford.

“We rode our luck and had to defend for our lives at times,” he told the BBC. “It was important to come out and have a good performance and show we can compete against the big teams. We genuinely believed we could get something from the game. “It wasn’t just me that needed to be switched on it was the whole team and they were.” standard.co.uk

Did we finally get some luck in tonight’s match? Or did we make our own luck and fully deserve a point? How did rate our goalkeeper?

West Ham in the market for highly-rated Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Dominic Iorfa.

Wolves are set to unload their highly rated defender Dominic Iorfa to West Ham during the January transfer window. The Midlands club want £5 million for the versatile youngster with further add-ones based on appearances and international recognition and Slaven Bilic is keen to complete the deal.

Essex-born Iorfa wants a move to the Premier League and, although there has been other interest from Southampton and Crystal Palace, the Hammers would be his preferred destination. The England Under-21 regular has played at full back and in the centre of defence for Wolves this season and has been one of the few success stories at the struggling Molineux club. mirror.co.uk

Is a move for Iorfa something we should do? Is he the right back that we need at this moment?

Manchester United aiming to prise Dimitri Payet away from West Ham with mega bid.

Old Trafford boss Jose Mourinho is a big fan of the France winger and has made a wide player a priority as he attempts to mould his side into Premier League title contenders. Payet only signed a new £125,000-a-week five-year contract in February with the Hammers who would want at least £35million for the 29-year-old. West Ham will resist any bids during the January transfer window but could be vulnerable to renewed offers in the summer.

Mourinho is desperate to add pace and width to his team. Payet was outstanding for the east Londoners last season, winning the club’s player of the season award, then went on to star in France’s European Championship finals side. But West Ham have become increasingly worried that Payet’s subdued form this campaign is because he has been distracted by a potential move away. And his struggles this time around have coincided with the Hammers hovering around the relegation zone. mirror.co.uk

Do you think there is any truth in this story? Would you be happy to have £35 million to spend on boosting the team? Or would you rather we rebuff any moves for our star player?

Napoli prepare Zaza swoop.

Napoli have looked at all the other options, but can now make a firm January bid for West Ham United striker Simone Zaza. The Partenopei are in dire need of a new centre-forward after Arkadiusz Milik’s torn ACL and realising Manolo Gabbiadini is unsuited to their system. According to Napoli Magazine, a summit reached the agreement that Zaza had to be their main target.

West Ham are more than happy to listen, as he has failed to score a single goal for them since arriving on loan with option to buy from Juventus. That option is the big issue, because it becomes mandatory after a certain number of appearances. The Hammers are prepared to leave Zaza out in order to force him back to Juve in January, at which point Napoli would have to negotiate with the Bianconeri for his transfer. football-italia.net