Allardyce off hook after ‘offside’ rant

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce will not face disciplinary action from the Football Association following comments made after his side’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Wednesday night.

Allardyce was upset assistant referee Harry Lennard failed to spot Robin van Persie was offside when he scored United’s second equaliser of the game and claimed it had cost the Hammers a “famous win”.

There was a suggestion the 58-year-old may have had to explain his comments to the FA but the governing body confirmed they will not be pursuing a disciplinary case.

Meanwhile, Patrice Evra is not expecting United to receive much credit for one of the cornerstones of their Premier League title bid — a refusal to give in.

Once again United were staring at defeat against West Ham and twice battled back from behind to secure a point that leaves them needing just six more from five matches to clinch their 20th championship.

It was a throwback to the early weeks of the campaign, when United repeatedly fought their way back from tricky positions. Against Monday’s opponents Aston Villa back in November, United were two goals down five minutes into the second half, yet still emerged with maximum points thanks to Javier Hernandez’s late winner.

Victories like that are the reason United have established such a handsome advantage over Manchester City, and almost certainly will allow them to repel the Blues, despite their recent impressive form. But Evra has noticed the Red Devils’ comeback story is so old, it rarely generates a flicker of interest anymore.

He knows the main prize only gets handed out once. And no amount of sniping could take the gloss off that. “You have to accept the criticism,” he said.

“But in France we say, ‘we pay the musician at the end of the show’. I hope we are going to be paying this year.”

David de Gea and Nemanja Vidic were paying the price for a bruising encounter with Andy Carroll. While manager Alex Ferguson was furious over the challenge on De Gea he believed should have got Carroll sent off just before half time, Vidic was distinctly unimpressed by the elbow that left him nursing a nasty bruise at the final whistle.

Yet the kind of robust confrontation was exactly what United had been planning for, and Phil Jones feels Vidic and central defensive partner Rio Ferdinand handled it brilliantly.

“We knew we were going to be put under pressure with a lot of high balls,” said Jones. “Rio and Vida dealt with it well. West Ham are no pushovers with big, strong players and in the end, it was a good point.”