'It is not a coincidence that we keep doing this': Man United come from behind - again
Manchester United's Paul Pogba (second left) celebrates scoring his side's first goal of the game with team-mates during the Premier League match at The London Stadium.
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER became a Manchester United legend with his knack scoring goals against the odds. His greatest night was the 1999 European Cup injury-time winner against Bayern Munich and now he is doing it again and again as their manager.
This latest unlikely victory sent his side into the Premier League top four and marked their fifth consecutive win away from home this season – coming from behind to win every time.
West Ham played his side off the pitch in the first half, but had to settle for only a Tomas Soucek goal. Their misses were costly as Solskjaer's half-time substitutions transformed the match and United romped home with Paul Pogba, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford scoring three quality goals in a dramatic 13-minute spell.
The Norwegian coach joked afterwards: “Last week we were two-nil down at Southampton at half-time so being only one down was a step forwards!
“I am very happy with our away form and we are getting more consistent at home too. We are coping better when we are down because the players have character and belief to get back into matches.
“It is not a coincidence that we keep doing this. There is no panic or arguing when we are down.
“At the end of the season you do not care so much about the performance if you win but we know there are areas we can improve on.”
The latter stages will give United confidence they can now go to Germany and get the result they need against RB Leipzig to stay in the Champions League.
Not that they looked anything like an elite side for long periods playing in front of a Premier League crowd for the first time in nine months.
Like Arsenal's 2,000 for Thursday's Europa League tie, the West Ham fans were in a party mood. They were so happy even Manchester United players got a clap when they came out.
We had club legend Trevor Brooking interviewed pitch-side to set the tone and the lift in atmosphere seemed to have an impact on the West Ham players too.
They were at it from the kick off and goalkeeper Dean Henderson was in action early in his first Premier League start for United with a strong block from Pablo Fornals with only a minute gone.
With regular starter David de Gea hoping to return for Leipzig, the 23-year-old had to make the most of his chance. His full-stretch save late on to secure victory was as good as it gets.
And his team-mates seemed happy to give him a lot of the action as Solskjaer's midfield – including recalled Pogba and Donny van de Beek - seemed better at passing to West Ham players than their own.
Even before Soucek's goal Angelo Ogbonna had sliced a close range chance over the bar and Fornals headed into the side netting after great work from the impressive Jarrodd Bowen. Fornals also hit a post soon after.
The opening goal came from a 38th minute corner. Declan Ride flashed a near post header and Soucek timed a run to perfection to turn the ball over the line at the far post.
West Ham should and could have more than doubled their lead with the biggest miss coming from Seb Haller who slipped in front of an open goal having rounded Henderson.
We might never find out exactly what Solskjaer was saying in the dressing room at half-time but the sight of Rashford and Fernandes warming up on the pitch during the break betrayed his intentions That finished the night for van de Beek and Cavani in what can only be seen as a desperate move as he had wanted to rest the pair for Leipzig and next weekend's Manchester derby.
But what an important switch as the pair inspired United to victory.
The impact was not instant by any means but the game changed dramatically after 65 minutes when Henderson's brilliant long clearance – which angry West Ham manager David Moyes thought had curled out of play – was controlled by Fernandes. He fed Pogba who scored with a perfectly-time right side foot shot from distance. Pure quality.
VAR has no cameras on the touchline, but Moyes insisted: “I had the best view in the house and the ball went a couple of yards off the pitch so disappointed the linesman did not pick it up and failed to make a decision. It had a big part to play in the game, but we stopped because we all knew the ball was out.
“We allowed that disappointment to stay with us for too long, but the most costly thing for us was not taking our chances in the first half.”
United's second, through Greenwood four minutes later, was even better. The young England forward controlled an Alex Telles cross with his back to goal and turned in full flow before drilling in a low shot.
Breathtaking.
Rashford struck a post before he put the match beyond West Ham's reach with 12 minutes to go. Fernandes found Mata and his weighted through ball was perfectly controlled before it flew into the net with a deft Rashford chip over the advancing Lukasz Fabianski.
Fabianski 6, Balbuena 5, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 6, Coufal 6 (Johnson 84), Rice 6, Soucek 7, Masuaku 6, Bowen 7 (Lanzini 76), Fornals 6 (Benrahma 75), Haller 5.
Henderson 7, Wan-Bissaka 6, Lindelof 6, Maguire 6, Telles 5, McTominay 5, Pogba 6, Greenwood 6, Van de Beek 5 (Fernandes 45), Martial 5 (Mata 62), Cavani 6 (Rashford 45).
Andre Marriner 7
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