Adrian Shines As Noble’s A Lucky Boy And The Rest Of West Ham’s Squad Rated From Respectable Point Against United
It’s now time to analyse West Ham United player performance from the Hammers’ 0-0 draw with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United in the Premier League, at the London Stadium yesterday evening, as David Moyes’ men earned a respectable point against the league’s second-place team.
Adrian San-Miguel: 8/10
Keeping his place in the starting Xl despite teammate Joe Hart returning to the squad after missing the last game through illness, the Spanish shot-stopper was outstanding in keeping his second clean sheet in succession.
Adrian made four key saves in the first period to shut out the likes of Jesse Lingard, Alexis Sanchez and Luke Shaw, the latter two he managed to deny in the same move with as thrilling double save, which brought the whole of London Stadium to their feet, he is ending the season very strongly and named many’s Man of the Match.
Pablo Zabaleta: 7/10
Featuring in his usual right wing-back position and frequently being booed by the away support due to his legend status at their rivals Manchester City, the former Argentina International put in another competent display.
Zabaleta was solid at the back, letting few opposition attacks pass him on the right side and also a help when his team got forward themselves, providing key passes and bursts of pace on the flank, it has been some season for him, proving his doubts wrong.
Declan Rice: 8/10
Following on from what his manager remarked as his best performance under him so far, the Irish youngster was excellent once again and is showing signs that mistakes of previous weeks have done him the world of good.
Rice made some superb challenges to thwart enemy attacks and kept the Red Devils’ forwards quiet for the entirety, he also dared to meander out of defence and showed a deft touch in all areas of the pitch, with every game, he is cementing a regular starting place for next term.
Angelo Ogbonna: 8/10
One man who certainly won’t be losing his spot in the team any time soon is the Italian defender, who is rounding off arguably his best season in Claret & Blue in style.
Ogbonna commanded the penalty area, both in the air and on the ground, winning headers and stopping United from finding any space in the box, he was also a threat in the other box too from corners, though Moyes’ men had very few of them, he contributed a great deal to the second clean sheet in a row.
Aaron Cresswell: 7/10
Continuing to be played in the left centre-back role, his performance aside, the England international was a lucky boy to have remained on the field for the entirety, much like last weekend at the King Power Stadium.
Cresswell lunged in on Scott McTominay in the first period dangerously and the challenge somehow went unpunished by referee Jon Moss, to the surprise of many, the tackle overshadowed what was another encouraging display by him as it looks like this could be his position going forward, at last.
Arthur Masuaku: 6/10
Playing in his usual left wing-back, the Democratic Republic of Congo International endured a quiet evening and as a result, was sacrificed for Andy Carroll very early in the second period.
It was clear that Masuaku was being deployed more defensively than usual and didn’t dare to challenge the visiting defence with any of his trademark runs, often choosing to pass out from the back instead, the majority of his last few performances have been little better than poor.
Mark Noble: 8/10
Captaining his team from midfield, in a defensive two with Cheikhou Kouyate, the Englishman enjoyed a more eventful evening coming off the back of his wonder strike against Leicester City last Saturday.
Noble was a contender for Man of the Match with a trademark gusty and gritty showing, although his spat with United midfielder Paul Pogba towards the end of the game, made the headlines as he and the Frenchman grappled, many argued that the skipper should have seen red and may face retrospective action from the FA.
Cheikhou Kouyate: 8/10
Turning out alongside his captain in the centre of the park, the Senegal national team skipper may have been in the wars, not for the first time in his career, but came out with a fighting spirit.
The bulk of Kouyate’s work came in a defensive sense as he was charged with marshalling the likes of Pogba and McTominay and did so with great strength and athleticism, stopping the former of those names from taking the ball into dangerous areas, time and time again, he has been inconsistent this term and is saving his best to last, that’s for sure.
Joao Mario: 7/10
Following on from his handy performance and goal in the Foxes triumph, the Inter Milan loanee earned mixed reviews of his showing this time around, from fans and pundits.
Once again, playing for a permanent move this summer, Mario worked very hard in the final third but just seemed to be missing his touch in certain situations, costing the Hammers opportunities at times, although he was far from the worst performer on the field.
Manuel Lanzini: 7/10
In only his third start since returning from an injury that he picked up while away with Argentina, the playmaker is looking to end the campaign as strongly as possible to boost his FIFA World Cup chances and would have done them no harm last night.
Lanzini looked the sharpest that he has looked in a long time, playing in a two supporting lone striker Marko Arnautovic for Moyes, keeping himself busy and seemingly being everywhere throughout the match to either attack or defend, the only thing that was missing was one final moment of quality in and around the box.
Marko Arnautovic: 7/10
Playing in his accustomed role up top on his own, it would be a frustrating 90 minutes for the Austria International, but one he must take on the chin and move on from.
There was little wrong with the way Arnautovic played, just the service to him as he was starved from the off, but still carved a number of opportunities out feeding off scraps and unfortunately for him, never quite had enough to seriously test out David de Gea, although he was a constant nuisance for the opposing defenders.
Andy Carroll: 7/10
Replacing Masuaku in an attacking change by Moyes with just over 20 minutes to play, the tall forward was sent on to cause some late problems in both boxes and this, he did.
Carroll bullied the Red Devils defenders and midfielders, drawing plenty of key fouls and helping the Irons to settle for the point, he was most notably involved in the later scuffle between Noble and Pogba and will desperately, if fit enough, be hoping to start the season finale on Sunday afternoon.
So, now that each and every featuring West Ham United squad member has been rated from one of the most solid and compact team performances of the season, will the Claret & Blue stars rack up such high numbers come Sunday afternoon? After Sam Allardyce’s Everton have been the final visitors of the PL season to London Stadium? Join us once again then to find out.
If you want to read more about David Moyes’ West Ham United’s Premier League draw with Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United on Thursday night at London Stadium, you can, check out the archives of our Matchday Live Blog, which we brought live to you from the Press Box of the former Olympic Stadium, our Match Report and our Five Main Talking Points, simply click on the links.
