Written by: Emily Pulham 

West Ham moved into fourth place with a deserved win against a Manchester United who continued to look lost under their current manager.

The Hammers took all three points after dominating a game in which Manchester United could only carve out one dangerous attempt on goal, with Fabianski saving well with his legs.

Manchester United sat deep in the first half, with West Ham struggling to break past their back four. The breakthrough came in the 44th minute with a cool Yarmolenko finish putting the Hammers 1-0 up. 

The Irons went into halftime the stronger time, and their dominance continued into the second half. Noble put in a Captain’s performance, with Rice beside him controlling the midfield. As the half wore on, the away side made three substitutions to try to improve their fortunes – with limited results. Fornals grew in confidence as the match progressed, and Cresswell came into his own after a first free kick failed to hit the target, but his second opportunity delivered a stunning, world class effort past De Gea to make 2-0.

It was a strong team effort, with exceptional midfield performances from Noble and Rice. This is three points well won from a team taking the league seriously, and also who are asking serious questions if the top six teams of previous years.