It was another bad day at the office for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United as he lost Marcus Rashford to injury during a lifeless display in their 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
United were subdued from the very start at the London Stadium, and it was no surprise when Andriy Yarmolenko put the Hammers ahead a minute before half time with a neat touch and finish.
Rashford, who had looked troubled from the start, was then lost to injury in the second half before Aaron Cresswell curled in a fantastic free kick beyond David De Gea with six minutes left to seal the points.
West Ham had only mustered three wins in their last 20 games against ‘big six’ opposition, but Solskjaer’s United - which has the youngest average age in the Premier League this season – looked like the underdogs as they were bossed by a stronger and more experienced side.
👏 Take a bow Aaron Cresswell...#MUFC #WHUFC #WHUMUN pic.twitter.com/fytVeuzUvL
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) September 22, 2019
Solskjaer made nine changes to the side that started the Europa league game on Thursday, so there can be no talk of tiredness, but tired is exactly how United looked from the very first whistle.
Daniel James was perhaps the only bright spark as he looked dangerous whenever given room to run into, while Harry Maguire wasted a great close range chance and Juan Mata would've had a simple tap-in had he been quicker at the far post in the second half.
West Ham always looked stronger though, especially in midfield where Mark Noble set the tempo and controlled the pace of the game.
The difference in the two sides will be a particular worry to Solskjaer, who is trying to build a younger team for the future, but in the here and now they looked short of strength and experience to match a side like West Ham - while they look especially short up front as they had Jesse Lingard playing up front after Rashford's injury.
Match highlights
West Ham United 2-0 Manchester United Opta stats
- After winning each of his first nine away games in all competitions as Man Utd boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has failed to find victory in his following nine (D3 L6).
- West Ham have won three of their last five Premier League home games against Man Utd (D1 L1), as many as they had in their previous 23 home games against them in the top-flight (W3 D11 L9).
- West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini is the first manager to win a Premier League game against four different Manchester United managers (David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær).
- Man Utd have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 11 away matches in all competitions, their worst run since conceding in 14 consecutive matches between April and December 2002.
- Man Utd have lost seven of their last 15 Premier League games (W4 D4 L7), as many defeats as they had recorded in their previous 40 matches in the competition (W25 D8 L7).
- Manchester United have named an unchanged starting XI in the Premier League for the second time this season - they didn't name a single unchanged side in this competition in 2018-19.
- Since the start of the 2011-12 season, Manchester United’s David de Gea has conceded more Premier League goals from direct free-kicks than any other goalkeeper (12).
- Felipe Anderson has been directly involved in 15 Premier League goals for West Ham since the beginning of last season (9 goals & 6 assists) - more than any other Hammer in that period.
