Last-gasp equaliser conceals poor play from Manchester United at Upton Park

By Kait Borsay.

Manchester United saved their blushes with an injury-time goal to rescue a point away from home in a 1-1 draw with West Ham.

A superb twist and volley from West Ham’s makeshift centre-back Cheikhou Kouyate deservedly put the home side ahead after an encouraging first half.

The equaliser from Daley Blind was as much to do with the side’s perseverance and underlying quality as it was the result of an inspired substitution from manager Louis van Gaal. Reminiscent of the side’s win against Queens Park Rangers last month, the Dutchman brought on Marouane Fellaini with 20 minutes remaining and the powerful Belgian made all the difference.

After a frustrating match for the forward line, the subject of such heavy investment in the summer, United will feel like the result is a win. They should have done better and exploited West Ham’s patched-up back line. Instead, they struggled to create and allowed the home side to win all their set-pieces from headers.

Manchester United are now unbeaten in seven Premier League away matches but will rue the missed opportunity to close the gap on Manchester City in second.

The first half belonged to West Ham: they pushed high from the off and the pace of centre-half pairing Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia kept United on red alert.

Valencia and Sakho, who returned to the side following a dispute over his withdrawal from the Africa Cup of Nations, moved well, constantly buzzing in and around the visitors’ goalmouth. United goalkeeper David de Gea was tested on more than one occasion and kept them in the game.

Midway through the half United began to assert themselves but Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie, playing upfront, just couldn’t find their rhythm. Their defence may have meant the scoreline remained goalless but the visitors just couldn’t find a way to play from the back.

West Ham broke through early in the second half, a free-kick from Mark Noble into Kouyate, who, with his back to goal, took three touches with the ball in the air before twisting 180 degrees and volleying it into the back of the net. Quite some skill.

The goal sprung United into action; they began to look more dangerous with Angel Di Maria playing further forward and Antonio Valencia getting forward on the right flank.

The arrival of Fellaini with 20 minutes to go ensured the long balls went flying into United’s forward line. Desperate for an equaliser, they showed their frustration, captain Wayne Rooney and right-back Luke Shaw were both booked for dissent.

West Ham kept up the pressure, Noble in amongst the action with a good chance.

In a toast to the United of old, two minutes into injury time the away side evened up the scoreline. Marcos Rojo’s ball came into the box from open play and was cleared into the path of Blind. The midfielder slotted it home from the edge of the box.

The game finished with a sending off for Shaw, a second yellow after a badly-timed tackle on Stewart Downing. United, though, could breathe a sigh of relief.

Noble was quick to recognise the improvements in West Ham, now 15 points better off compared to this stage last season.

“It feels like a loss, to be honest,” the midfielder said. “It just shows you how far we’ve come that we’re gutted we drew with Manchester United at home who’ve got some world-class players out there today.

“I thought that in many spells we were the better team, we just couldn’t hold out until the end.”

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