Man Utd continued to disappoint when they lost 0-2 at West Ham’s field in round 18 of the Premier League.
Raphael Varane’s illness forced coach Erik ten Hag to put a 19-year-old midfielder with a strange name – Willy Kambwala – into the main squad to partner with “veteran” Jonny Evans. With a broken squad and poor performance, Man Utd could not earn any points in their trip to West Ham in round 18 of the Premier League.
Coach Erik ten Hag cannot apply the “death defense” style of play like how he held Liverpool to a draw last week. West Ham only pressed in the first minutes of the match and then actively played defensive counter-attack. Man Utd’s ball control rate is twice as high as the home team’s, but their attack is deadlocked.
The end of the first half is the time when the “Red Devils” play best. They applied constant pressure and created opportunities, but Alejandro Garnacho unfortunately missed in the face-off. After the break between the two halves, the away team could not reestablish this overwhelming attack.
When the attack is deadlocked, Man Utd’s defense line also reveals loopholes for opponents to exploit. In the 72nd minute, the away team’s defenders watched as Jarrod Bowen coordinated with Lucas Paqueta, running from the right wing into the penalty area before beating Andre Onana in a face-off to score the opening goal for West Ham.
Not long after that, Man Utd conceded a second goal from an individual mistake. Kobbia Mainoo missed the ball despite not being pressured by any opponent’s players. West Ham stole the ball and Mohamed Kudus took advantage of the opportunity to score a 2-0 victory for the home team.
Man Utd could not score, did not even have any clear opportunities in the last 15 minutes of the match. With this 0-2 defeat, the “Red Devils” went 4 consecutive matches without scoring (in all competitions) – something that has not happened in the past 30 years. This was also their 13th loss of the season. Since 1931, the “Red Devils” have never lost so much before Christmas.