United Blow Their Chance.

West Ham United 3 Manchester United 2

It was a night of heated tension as Manchester United came from behind only to gift West Ham two goals in the space of five minutes which allowed them to leave their home for the last 112 years on a high.

The evening started badly for the Red Devils even before the match had begun when their team bus came under attack on the way to the stadium. An event that could have shook the players confidence even before they had entered the ground. However, no excuses can be made for the way they squandered the lead after Martial's double had put their noses in front.

This was the first of two important matches for the Red Devils in their season finale that would determine if their quest for a top-four finish would indeed materialise after another fairly disappointing season.

The target was clear win the last two games and they would secure a Champions League place at the expense of Man City. There could have been no greater incentive.

Louis van Gaal's starting XI had a strong look about it: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Schneiderlin, Herrera, Mata, Rooney, Rashford and Martial. Van Gaal made four changes by bringing back Blind, Schneiderlin, Rashford and Martial, who had been a doubt after pulling out in the warm-up against Norwich.

The match was delayed for forty-five minutes to allow Man United more time to prepare for the game as their team bus was late arriving at the ground due to the mass of home fans outside the stadium. Fans decided it would be fun to pelt the United bus with various objects including beer bottles and probably jellied eels as it was the East End.

Once the match got under way it became abundantly clear that not only did United have to overcome the opposition but also the partisan home crowd if they were to come away with the victory.

Immediately following the kick-off West Ham bombarded United's penalty area and in doing so created panic in the away defence.

Martial didn't seem to be hampered by injury as he burst into the box in the opening minutes and was unlucky not to be awarded a corner.

It was not the start United wanted when the Hammers took the lead in the tenth minute following a cross from the left that found Sakho unmarked in the box and his effort was deflected by Blind past the despairing dive of De Gea to give the home fans more to shout about.

This was proving to be a match that would truly test the characters of the United players as they were in a cauldron of hate pouring down from he stands.

West Ham had a perfect opportunity to double their lead when Carroll was played clean through but with only De Gea to beat he placed his shot too close to the keeper who managed to get a block in and save Smalling's embarrassment as it was the defender who lost the run of Carroll.

The ball was in the United net again in the twenty-first minute but thankfully for United, the goal was disallowed as it had already crossed the line for a corner.

As the half hour mark approached United finally started to put some decent passes together and created some space on the flanks but were let down by the final ball.

On one such attack Valencia and Martial linked well on the right and when the cross was played over Mata was adjudged to have fouled a defender as he headed goalward.

After a rare mistake from Martial, who slipped while in possession, Payet was gifted a golden chance but he totally miscued his shot and it curled harmlessly wide.

At the other end, Rashford tried to get on the end of a pacey Rooney cross but the youngster seemed to mess up his jump and the chance was gone.

As the half neared its conclusion it was the home side who were on the front foot and had plenty of chances to put the game beyond the reach of the visitors.

There was a late shout for a penalty after Martial was nudged as he sped into the penalty area. However, Mike Dean immediately waved away the claims from the United players.

Half-time and behind to only a single goal meant that in the second half United still had to hope they could overturn the score. The biggest problem in the first half was that United weren't allowed to settle and when they did have the ball they didn't seem to know what to do with it.

The most creative player for United had been Rooney, who in his deeper role tried to pick out the runs of his forwards and was unlucky on a couple of occasions that his passes hadn't been as pinpoint as usual.

United got the second half underway looking for a vastly improved second forty-five minutes compared to the first. Van Gaal made his first change at the start of the half when he replaced Schneiderlin with West Ham old boy Carrick.

In the 51st minute, the home fans failed to return the ball to De Gea from behind his goal so a replacement ball was called for. From De Gea's goal kick the new ball eventually fell at the feet of Mata who showed great awareness inside the area to cut the ball back from the byline and his pass was swept home by Martial to make the scores level.

Superb play by Mata to create a chance out of a long punt by his keeper. Bet the home fans wished they hadn't delayed play by not returning the ball.

Unfortunately, Martial followed up his strike with the first booking of the match.

United were looking more dangerous in attack as Rashford tried a cheeky backheel across the six-yard area that Herrera was unlucky not to get on the end of.

The Hammers still provided their own threats on United's goal and in one attempted header by Carroll it took a goal line clearance by Rashford to save a certain goal.

As the match entered the last twenty minutes tackles flew in left right and centre and there were two cautions in quick succession for Carroll and Valencia.

Then in the 72nd minute, that man Anthony Martial scored his second of the game and 17th of the season to put United into a 2-1 lead.

The move began with Rooney who played the ball through to Rashford who in turn passed to Martial on the left-hand side of the area. The French forward still had a lot of work to do as he dribbled his way into the box then from a tight angle clipped the ball into the net. A brilliant finish from a player on top of his game.

After the jubilation of the equaliser, West Ham pressed United back and then turned the game on its head with two soft goals both headed in from close range by Antonio and Reid that stemmed from a couple of set pieces delivered by Payet and poorly defended by the United back four.

The last fifteen minutes were played out against a crescendo of noise generated by the home fans around the ground. They must have been loving the fact that they had got one over United.

Herrera was substituted after he had been cautioned and was replaced by Lingard for the last five minutes. The last change by van Gaal was to introduce Januzaj for Valencia to try and rescue at least a point from the game which they failed to do.

Game over and United headed back up north licking their wounds knowing that they had blown a great chance to come away with a win but instead fell to their tenth defeat in the league.

From the start West Ham went for the throat fired up by the occasion with the backing of their fans behind them and United seemed to take an age to settle especially at the back. Everybody knows what a danger Payet poses at dead ball situations so why on earth did the United players continue to concede free-kicks in dangerous areas? Once Martial had provided the lead United imploded in the space of five minutes with a display of inept defending and only have themselves to blame.

Now the advantage has been handed back to Man City who have to win away at Swansea while United host Bournemouth in the final games of the season. The Swans are not a push over so expect a few more twists and turns during the last ninety minutes of the current campaign.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

United back on track at Goodison.

Everton 0 Manchester United 3

After what seemed like an eternity United returned to Premier League action with what could have been a sticky trip to Goodison Park to tackle the Toffees but turned out to be so sweet.

Following the embarrassing defeat to the Gunners, United would have preferred to have had the chance to put the record straight within days of the loss but, unfortunately, they had to bide their time until the latest round of international matches had been completed.

It was a mixed bag for our international players involved in the Euro 2016 qualifiers with England, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Germany and Northern Ireland all making it through along with the hosts France, however, the biggest shock had to be the failure of Holland, which means that the finals will be without the talents of Memphis and Blind.

Time is a great healer, but the international break couldn't have provided van Gaal with the opportunity to address some important issues as the majority of his squad were on duty all over Europe. His main headache would have been the form, or lack of, of his captain Rooney, who hadn't managed to score against his boyhood club since 2007 and in fact Rooney's last league away goal for United was almost twelve months ago against Arsenal.

Louis van Gaal would have been sweating on the fitness of key players, including Rooney, along with Carrick and Schweinsteiger ahead of this crucial clash against a tricky Everton side, who have had the better of the Red Devils in the last three games at Goodison, but all were declared fit with the only player absent Ashley Young.

This meant that van Gaal was able to pick from a strong squad to try and turn things around after the poor showing against Arsenal a fortnight ago.

United's starting XI: De Gea, Darmian, Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Mata, Herrera, Rooney and Martial.

After indifferent displays in his debut season, Memphis was relegated to the bench alongside compatriot Blind but there were recalls for both Herrera and Rojo with Jones and Schneiderlin also back in the starting line-up.

Subs: Johnstone, Blind, Carrick, Lingard, Pereira, Fellaini and Memphis.

Both sets of supporters and players warmly applauded former Everton player and manager Howard Kendall, who passed away prior to the game. Kendall was the manager in the 80's at a time when Everton enjoyed their highest level of success.

United's formation meant that Rooney started as the main attacker with Martial and Mata wide of the forward with Herrera tucked in behind. At the back, Jones was to partner Smalling with Rojo slotting in at left back.

In the early minutes of the game Rooney, Mata and Herrera interchanged positions and passes well to try and gain an early advantage which hasn't happened on many occasions this season and it was Rooney, who had the visitors' first effort after ten minutes, but his effort from the edge of the box was pulled wide.

Lukaku proved to be a handful in the opening exchanges, especially for Jones, who looked so uncomfortable when up against the big Belgian. Smalling has enjoyed a great start to the campaign, but when he plays alongside Jones he seems to have his confidence affected.

Herrera called on ex-red Howard to pull off a smart save by tipping over a rasping drive. From the resulting corner, United took the lead in the 18th minute as the ball came out to Rojo who hooked it back into the danger area where Smalling was loitering and he chested the ball into the path of Schneiderlin who calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner of the net. A brilliantly cool finish by the French star for his first goal of the season.

Then the recalled Herrera made it an even greater start for the visitors four minutes later by heading in the second goal from a sublime cross by Rojo. This was by far the best start by United this season away from home.

There was a nice duel developing in midfield as experienced Schweinsteiger came up against the youngster Barkley a case of master and the apprentice with the German using all of his experience to come out on top.

A great chance fell to United just before the break as Rooney beat the offside trap and raced towards goal and instead of shooting he unselfishly squared the ball to Martial, whose shot was blocked luckily by the home defence then Everton went up the other end and De Gea punched away an attempt by Barkley.

Half time and United had played probably their best football away from home in the league this season with Rojo and Herrera both contributing so much on their return. However, Rooney continued to frustrate with another below par performance and more would be expected from him in the second half.

United made a change at the start of the second half as Jesse Lingard replaced Juan Mata. This was a great chance for Lingard to show the manager what a talent he is on a rare appearance for the first team and he was immediately called into action back in defence as he cleared the ball before Lukaku could do any damage.

Barkley and Schweinsteiger continued their tussle in the middle with the elder receiving a booking in the opening exchanges. Everton pressed and won a few free-kicks in dangerous positions with Rojo becoming the second United player to enter the referee's book.

In one attack, De Gea produced a stop with his legs to prevent a certain goal by Lukaku then the Spaniard followed up with further heroics by diving to save from Barkley after yet another Everton free-kick.

Just after the hour mark Rooney made up for his below par first half with a goal that reminded everybody what he is best at by latching on to a through-ball by the impressive Herrera and confidently stroked it past a despairing Tim Howard to give the visitors a comfortable three goal lead.

Let us hope that the goal pulls Rooney out of his slump and gives him the kick-start his season needs. Rooney has now equalled former red Andy Cole by scoring 187 Premier League goals, but is still behind Alan Shearer.

In another one on one with Howard, Rooney showed he still had the pace but was thwarted by the keeper before he could pull the trigger. That is exactly where the captain should play week in week out as the main striker and not be allowed to be pulled back into midfield where his goal scoring talent is wasted.

For the final fifteen minutes, there was the ritual change of Carrick for Schweinsteiger to freshen up the midfield against the background of the fantastic away support that was in fine voice as always.,

Magic Martial almost dribbled the ball through a wall of defenders and into the net only to be thwarted by Howard in goal. The French star is full of confidence when the ball is at his feet and is a breath of fresh air even out of position on the left. A couple of minutes later Fellaini replaced man of the match Herrera in the final change of the match.

The final ten minutes saw United go through the motions with one eye on the upcoming Champions League tie over in Moscow, but Martial was at it again in injury time when he danced through the defence on the byline and pulled an inviting ball back into the danger area which begged for somebody to get on the end but it wasn't to be.

With important matches upcoming including dates with Man City and Crystal Palace in the league and a League Cup tie at home to Middlesbrough sandwiched between the double header against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League it was imperative that United restarted their league campaign in a more positive fashion than they had left it at the Emirates.

This they did and in some style with a determined attacking display combined with some robust defending that puts the team in the right frame of mind for the tough month ahead. Ander Herrera put in a man of the match performance with his all-round enthusiasm and his goal plus assist put the icing on the cake of his display.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.

Man United League Leaders.

Manchester United 3 Sunderland 0

Manchester United defeated bottom of the league side Sunderland at Old Trafford and returned to the summit of the Premier League for the first time since 2013.

As United geared up for a busy period, which will see them take on Wolfsburg, Arsenal and Man City, the Old Trafford outfit welcomed Sunderland to the Theatre of Dreams with the hope of another three points that would keep up their momentum in the Premier League on the back of victories over Liverpool and Southampton.

The stand-out performer so far has to be Anthony Martial who continued his scoring exploits against Ipswich by netting a late goal in the 3-0 win that has given him a wonderful start to his United career having scored four goals in four matches equalling Falcao's total for all of last season.

The manager has warned the fans about getting over excited with the French youngster, but it is hard to ignore the Solskjaer like finishing qualities of the 19-year-old. His technique in front of goal is sublime to say the least.

Louis van Gaal chose a starting eleven that was more than capable of dealing with the bottom of the table Black Cats: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Blind, Darmian; Schneiderlin, Carrick; Mata, Rooney, Memphis and Martial.

Darmian would start in the left back position for the first time this season. It's not a position he is unfamiliar with as he often switched between right and left back while at Torino. Both Carrick and Schneiderlin returned to the midfield allowing Schweinsteiger and Herrera to have a rest on the bench.

Martial's tremendous form meant that he would start the game and Memphis was also recalled to the side. With Pereira on the bench, United ensured that they had a youth produced player involved in the matchday squad, a record that extends way back to 1937.

Subs: Romero, Jones, Herrera, Schweinsteiger, Pereira, Young and Fellaini.

United took only five minutes to create their first chance of the game when temporary left back Darmian surged down the wing and delivered a well-worked cross that, unfortunately, eluded everyone.

Shortly after, Martial showed his immense composure on the ball while surrounded by three defenders on the edge of the box by holding them off and winning a free kick that Mata wasted with a poor ball into the area.

It was an overly patient approach by the home side as if they were biding their time to strike at the heart of the away side. Mata almost made the breakthrough with a shot that was deflected for a corner.

The giant that is Pantilimon in the Sunderland goal made a costly error when he handled the ball outside his area to gift United a free-kick in a promising position, however, once again Mata squandered the opportunity. Where's Pereira when you need him most?

The away side's first real attempt on goal came in the 23rd minute, but the strike was well blocked by that man De Gea.

Half an hour in and it was the same old story for United this season as they enjoyed the majority of possession but created nothing of note in the final third.

Bottom of the table Sunderland took a leaf out of fellow North East strugglers Newcastle's book in the art of defending and their clear time-wasting started to anger the Old Trafford faithful as it broke up any rhythm to United's play.

There was a worrying moment when Martial went to ground clutching his right knee after chasing down Cattermole. Luckily for the side the youngster eventually got up, dusted himself off and got on with the game.

United wasted yet another free kick after a Johnson handball and this time it was Memphis who took the responsibility, but strangely he hit his effort so weakly that the keeper could have visited the club's museum before collecting the ball.

The breakthrough eventually came in injury time when Blind played a delightful ball into the area which Mata managed to connect with at the far post and his square ball found Memphis who steered the ball over the line to score his first Premier League goal for United and give the Red Devils the lead at half-time.

A first half, which was disappointing in the fact that United failed to produce any decent efforts on goal until a moment of quality from Daley Blind which opened the Black Cats determined defence.

The second half started perfectly as United's new hero Martial collected the ball inside the area and dribbled to the byline before delivering a ball into the six-yard box, which Rooney managed to deflect into the net to make the scoreline 2-0.

The goal by the captain was not only his first Premier League goal of the season, but also equalled Denis Law's league record of 171 goals for the club.

The second goal should have inspired the home side, but it was Sunderland who seemed galvanised by it as they brought an instinctive reaction save from De Gea among a crowd of players down by his near post. The Spaniard came to the rescue again on the hour mark as he saved with his legs when one on one with van Aanholt.

Just before the regular change of Schweinsteiger for Carrick for the last twenty minutes there was an excellent chance for Memphis to grab his second of the day and put the match well out of Sunderland's reach. Martial stormed forward with power and played a perfect pass into the path of Memphis, but when a goal looked certain the keeper came out and blocked the Dutch forward's effort.

Martial almost continued his scoring record when he got his head to a Valencia cross, however, the ball whistled just over the crossbar.

Blind took a nasty knock to the face in an accidental collision and was substituted by the manager with Jones coming on in his place.  Thankfully Blind looked none the worse for wear as he came off.

The final change of the game was Young for the lively Memphis and straight away Young interchanged passes with Rooney, who played the ball to Mata, but his first-time effort was well saved down low by the keeper.

The last ten minutes were played out in a pedestrian fashion with the home fans blaring out to the watching world that United was once again top of the league.

There was still time for Mata to add the icing on the cake when he put the ball away following excellent wing play by Young to make the score a deserving 3-0.

In the move for the goal Young showed once again that he is in superb form and fully deserves the plaudits he receives for his willingness to be patient and take his chance whenever it comes.

Full time and an important win that took the side to the number one spot even though having not played particularly well. However, it's the result that counts at the end of the day.

There were many players who deserve special mention including Darmian, who handled his defensive change without putting a foot wrong and along with his partners, Smalling, Blind and Valencia, ensured that Sunderland didn't really get a look in. In the middle, Schneiderlin produced his normal effective performance without any fuss and Mata once again showed his class and grabbed his first Old Trafford goal of the season.

But it is the French youngster Martial who has given United a new dimension to their attacking style of play and fully deserves to be named man of the match for his all-round display of strength and determination in attack. Although he failed to find the net in this game his overall play ensured that United had the upper hand when on the attack and he certainly has a mature head on his shoulders for a nineteen-year-old.

Let us celebrate the fact that United are back where they belong at the top of the league for the first time since the days of Alex Ferguson. This time under the philosophy of Louis van Gaal.

Thanks for reading.

Miles Dunton.