Man Utd vs WHUFC -- April 13th, 2019

oh aren't y'all lucky to have me back...

nice leisurely saturday morning in the offing... a 9:30am kick-off here so can get a bit of shut-eye.

Cardiff might be relegated by the time we kick-off but hopefully not.

I guess in weird way, the Toon might have helped us a little by beating Leicester... or made it more likely we sink further down the table... who can say.

The BBC quotes us thusly.....

"West Ham winger Michail Antonio returns after missing the defeat at Chelsea because of an ankle problem.

Samir Nasri is absent with a calf injury sustained in the warm-up at Stamford Bridge.

Jack Wilshere is fit again after an ankle injury but will play a second game for the under-23s before making a first-team return.


The Guardian says:

Hernandez lone striker with Snodgrass, Anderson and Arnautovic ahead of Noble and Rice with a back four of Cresswell, Ogbonna, Balbuena and Fredericks with the ever dependable Fabianski in goal.

"Subs from Adrián, Trott, Johnson, Masuaku, Obiang, Coventry, Snodgrass, Diangana, Pérez, Holland, Silva, Zabaleta, Diop

Doubtful Antonio (ankle)

Injured Wilshere (match fitness, 20 Apr), Sánchez (knee, 27 Apr), Carroll (ankle), Nasri (calf), Reid (knee), Yarmolenko (achilles, all unknown)"

So, reading all that... Antonio is injured and/or fit. Snodgrass is in the starting XI or subs bench, Lanzini is nowhere to be found and Wilshere is playing in the reserve to get match fit or being assessed next week...

Thanks for all that...

Man Utd are looking for an easy win, so who comes along, West Ham.

Who knows what the score will be?

morning Chas

a minute gone, Masuaku lofts a ball over the bar... yes, Masuaku... none of us saw that coming.

so... who made the cut...

BTW... Lanzini is SO short....


1 - Fabianski
5 - Zabaleta
4 - Balbuena
21 - Ogbonna
26 - Masuaku
16 - Noble
41 - Rice
11 - Snodgrass
8 - Felipe Anderson
17 - Hernández
10 - Lanzini


oh great... Fabianski looks like he's turned his ankle literally just walking to pick up the ball - he plays on for the corner... hopefully he's ok.

and the subs...

13 - Adrián
14 - Obiang
23 - Diop
24 - Fredericks
30 - Antonio
37 - Holland
45 - Diangana

so Arnie doesn't even make the subs bench?????
Antonio wasn't as fit as people thought he was...

first five minutes it's been pretty even... if anything we've been the slightly sharper... we''ll see how long it continues

shit...

great move and great goal... but Anderson was half a yard offside...

well worked down the wing between Lanzini, Snoddy and Masuaku...

but the flag was up sharpish and we get nowt...

but we've been on the front foot - something we've not been for a while now

according to the 'official twitter' Arnie is missing through illness...

if we'd played like this in the last two months we'd be so solidly in 7th place...

this is what's so frustrating about us...

oh great... all of that good work and an almost goal... we give away a penalty..

Utd were just starting to bring the pressure and get a grip on the game... so we give them the helping hand they need and that the first 15 minutes don't justify...

Pogba vs Fabianski...


ugh... straight down the middle... Fab dives... it's a goal...

to make it worse, reviews show that Anderson was actually onside for his 'goal'...

even when we do the right things it doesn't work...


be interesting to see how the team responds to going behind and how Utd play now they have the lead...

we have a free kick - conceded by Pogba - just outside the D...

tried a little fake-er-roo... but Lanzini's shot ricochets off the wall for a corner...

we're definitely not laying down on this...

Snoddy corner headed out for another corner...

near post glancing header from Anderson skids across the goal but there's no far post poacher to stick it in the back corner... good chance not taken...

more great defending from Rice

bit chaotic at the back there... don't want to seePogba getting the ball unmarked in the penalty area... but we defend it and Utd get nothing...

33 minutes gone and we're still arguably the better of the two teams out there... but football is a results business and we ain't getting the result at the moment.

Mata chops down Noble and gets a yellow.

another Wet Ham build up that has all the right moves but Noble doesn't make the best pass and it ends... not to single him out (any more than I usually do) but a few times so far today he's been the culprit in ending a move with a poor pass or poor choice of pass...

weird seeing him in that position to start with... perhaps he would let a better playmaker do the do...

couple of 'almost' moments from Utd... 4 minutes to go in the half and we have another free kick but don't have players in the right position... fortunately the Utd defense swing at it and put it out for a corner to us...

Snoddy to take...

we try... but anderson slices it wide...

more west Ham pressure gives the fans something to cheer about....

Anderson is playing better than usual.. much more involved...

Noble is involved in lots

1 minute of added time...

we're the 'better' team but still losing... we're missing the cutting edge either in finishing or a final pass...

Half-time... 0-1

we're on 'free' national TV here in the States... so most people will be tuning in the see the 'famous' UTD but the plucky underdog Utd is putting in a good showing of themselves...so at least it's not the nightmare PR disaster we were all fearing...

Man Utd are not playing well and if only we could put in some quality balls we could win.
But we are West Ham.

2nd Half gets underway... bit of a mix-up in defense and we almost gift a second... but UTD aren't on their toes and we get away with it...

why is Noble the most forward player harrying the Utd defense?

there should be 4 players ahead of him doing that - especially Hernandez...

next attack...Hernandez is the player picking up the ball in the middle of the park - you know.. where Noble should be...

but the move ends with Hernandez being bundled over in the box... so maybe the 'plan' has some merit...

noble is definitely in the thick of things... it's been almost all West Ham...

and the pressure pays off...

After a woeful Snoddy cross that goes to the Utd keeper... we win back possession as DeGea's throw out goes to one of our players.... and attack again and

Anderson is down on the ground and slides the ball into the bottom corner before DeGea can get to it...

game on... 1-1