Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United will look to draw on any inspiration they can when they welcome Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United to London Stadium on Saturday lunchtime, in the Premier League.
While Wednesday night’s remarkable 8-0 thrashing of Macclesfield Town in the Carabao Cup will give them confidence, so will a competitive recent record at home to the Red Devils in the league. Join us to look back at the last five PL meetings between the two sides in East London, analysing the reasons the Hammers have to be believing in themselves, ahead of the tricky encounter.
West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United (March 2014)
First, we go all the way back to 2014, when a West Ham side under Sam Allardyce met with a Manchester United side being managed by David Moyes, at the Boleyn Ground.
This was a match, also broadcast live on Sky Sports, famous for Wayne Rooney’s goal from the halfway line, the ex-England captain would add a further goal to send the Red Devils back to Manchester with the three points, Hammers will be pleased that their team has not suffered a defeat more severe than a two-goal one, in this fixture in the last five seasons.
West Ham United 1-1 Manchester United (February 2015)
The first of the three in this list of the last five meetings where the Irons would go unbeaten came in the early spring of 2015, the hosts still under Allardyce and the visitors, new man Louis van Gaal.
It is a game that will be memorable to West Ham fans for a Cheikhou Kouyate wonder-goal, the Senegalese midfielder opening the scoring just after the break with a fabulous volley, only for Daley Blind to level things up in stoppage time, breaking the hearts of the Upton Park faithful.
West Ham United 3-2 Manchester United (May 2016)
Third on our list is by far the most significant encounter we are going to be looking at, when Slaven Bilic’s Hammers faced off with the Manchester giants in the final-ever game at the Boleyn.
With both teams chasing UEFA Champions League football, the clash was given an extra importance and would be fittingly edged by the hosts, who went ahead early on through Diafra Sakho, only to be pegged back by an Antony Martial double and then, come back themselves, scoring twice inside the final 15 minutes through Michail Antonio and Winston Reid. Neither team could force their way into the top four, in the end.
West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United (January 2017)
The thought of the previous result and the memories of that night will give Pellegrini’s men plenty to be feeling good about, though, the memory of the next match will do the very opposite.
It was a very controversial early-January Sunday afternoon and United were visiting London Stadium for the first time, with Sofiane Feghouli being wrongly sent off early doors and the visitors relying on goals from Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, both of which were contentious, to say the least, the Claret & Blue Army felt very aggrieved after that particular matchup.
West Ham United 0-0 Manchester United (May 2018)
And, last but not least, we reach the final encounter of the five, the most recent between the two outfits, May’s penultimate home game of the season for the Irons, against Mourinho’s Man United.
A respectable point was earned by the home side on this occasion a few days after David Moyes’ men had secured their PL safety, meanwhile, the away side were just as satisfied with the draw, as it meant they would finish second in the table, this result will really make the hosts believe they can go one better, tomorrow.
Overall, West Ham’s recent home record against the world football powerhouses in the league will give them plenty of encouragement and reason to believe that they can take three points off the league’s seventh-place team, despite them sitting down in 17th, themselves.
The Hammers will also be buoyed by the fact that United are a club currently in turmoil, as relations between the manager and star player Paul Pogba have boiled over in the last few days, and they are unbeaten in three, in all competitions. It could well be a special Saturday for members of the Claret & Blue Army, one to cherish and never forget.
