It was dishwater to oles as we bring you the West Ham player ratings after a Lucas Paqueta-inspired win over Man United.
West Ham were sparked into life in a game of two halves as they beat Manchester United 2-0 at the London Stadium.
The Hammers moved up to sixth in the Premier League table – for a few hours at least – after goals from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus put Man United to the sword.
David Moyes will see the result as vindication after he was heavily criticised for resting a host of stars in the Carabao Cup thrashing at Liverpool in midweek.
There was no sign of that having any tangible impact in a first half that was like watching paint dry for West Ham and Man United.
Dishwater to oles as Paqueta inspires win over Man United
That was reflected in a deathly quiet London Stadium crowd too, something not lost on commentators and pundits watching the game.
In the second half, though, it was dishwater to oles as Lucas Paqueta inspired the win over Man United.
The Brazilian magnifico was moved up front and it sparked West Ham into life as he set up Bowen with a truly genius lifted pass into the box.
Paqueta then pounced on a Man United mistake to slide in Kudus, splitting the defenders as the star boy burst into the box and lashed home into the bottom corner.
West Ham’s players then found their swagger, passing it around and keeping the ball to mocking oles from the Hammers fans.
West Ham player ratings vs Man United:
Here’s our Hammers News player ratings for the 2-0 win over Man United, brought to you by young statistician Evan Wallace.
Alphonse Areola, 7/10: Solid start, good distribution, crucial save from Garnacho, important clean sheet after Wednesday.
Vladimir Coufal, 7/10: Overlapped well and full of running, linking well with Mohammed Kudus in first half, not as involved second half but also focused on keeping Rashford quiet.
Kurt Zouma, 8/10: Strong defending to stop several dangerous moments, point-blank goal saving block from Shaw cross second half was vital.
Konstantinos Mavropanos, 8/10: Much needed solid performance. After a shaky start he put in a very strong defensive display, winning nearly every header. Distribution helped turn defence into attack, covered others well, dominated £72m Rasmus Hojland into being substituted.
Emerson Palmieri, 7/10: Superb yet again, one of West Ham’s best and most consistent players. Good defensive tackles, important headers, linked up well with Paqueta as usual. Like Coufal, a solid fist half and quieter second as the forward line started to play.
Edson Alvarez, 8/10: Closed down crosses and produced a performance of committed defending all over the pitch. So important to this team. Becoming more comfortable and composed on the ball and released it to others to do their thing. Hugely important block for Garnacho chance.
Tomas Soucek, 7/10: Disciplined and selfless performance. A quiet game but did his job for the team and close inspection shows just how key he was to the victory.
James Ward-Prowse, 7/10: Showed uncharacteristically high energy to continually join the attack as Soucek sat. Good delivery as you would expect. Solid if unspectacular all round performance.
Lucas Paqueta, 9/10, MOTM: Outstanding creativity and vision to assist both goals. Clever hold up play, lovely touches, covered the pitch well and also made an important last ditch tackle to stop a potential goal. Outrageous technique with outside of foot for Bowen goal, booked for dissent.
Mohammed Kudus, 8/10: Came alive in second half and took his goal so well. Held the ball up superbly, strong with his back to goal, high energy throughout. Luke Shaw seemed to have better of him in the first half and he was at fault for key chance for Man United which could have been a goal. But positional switch saw him cause real problems with his pace and committed direct running. Snatched at one chance in second half but more than made up for it when making it 2-0.
Jarrod Bowen, 8/10: Intelligent pressing first half, snatched at one opportunity. Put Pressure on Man United’s defence all game, didn’t stop running and took his goal very well with great reactions after rebound off Onana.
Substitutes:
Pablo Fornals and Ben Johnson: Not on long enough for a rating but both worked hard to maintain the 2-0 scoreline.
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