Despite a promising first-half, West Ham suffered a heavy defeat at Old Trafford.

Off the back of two lacklustre draws against Bournemouth and Sheffield United, West Ham travelled north to face Manchester United. Fans were understandably concerned given the performances that the Hammers have put in in recent weeks. 

However, for the majority of the first-half, David Moyes’ side dominated. They had a lot of the ball, and a lot of half chances, but the home side defended excellently to prevent the East Londoners from scoring. Unfortunately, poor defending from James Ward-Prowse and Soucek allowed Casemiro to find Rasmus Hojlund, who then managed to beat Aguerd with some quick feet, finding the back of the net to give his side the advantage. 

Things did not look too bad for the Irons though, they were on top of the game and could easily have salvaged a result. Disappointingly, as has been the case one too many times this season, West Ham conceded straight after the restart, finding themselves 2-0 down thanks to a Garnacho goal that deflected heavily off Aguerd. The Red Devils definitely improved in the second-half, but the Hammers still had their chances. 

Arguably the best of the game came when Jarrod Bowen was put clean through on goal, but a mixture of hesitation and brilliant defending led to Dalot blocking the shot.

To put the final nail in the coffin, Ben Johnson played a poor pass to substitute Kalvin Phillips, which led to him being dispossessed, and Garnacho went on to secure his second of the match to give Manchester United a 3-0 win. 

The score line could have looked extremely different, but West Ham simply did not take their chances. They had 22 shots to United’s 12 but still had less shots on target – not signing a forward is already coming back to bite them. Although the final score certainly flatters Erik Ten Hag’s side, it is the Hammers’ own fault that they did not come away with a result.

Overall, individual errors and poor finishing led to a thrashing. The performance was much improved but, at this stage of the season, the result was always going to matter more, especially in such a crucial game.