West Ham faithfuls could not have chosen a better opponent or a better result to be the last ever game at Upton Park. Manchester United have inflicted many painful nights for the Hammers fans but it was the time they had their sweet revenge.
A Winston Reid headed goal on the 82nd minute was enough for West Ham to clinch a 3-2 win from being 2-1 down after Anthony Martial had given United the lead on 72nd minute.
It was an action packed game but it began to heat up even before the kick-off when Manchester United’s team bus was attacked by some West Ham fans which delayed the kick off by 45 minutes.
It being the last ever game at Upton Park, there were special programs planned for the fans and the atmosphere was buzzing withe excitement and anticipation of a great game.
West Ham supporters got their wish after the home team dominated the early going and took a well deserved lead through Diafra Sakho’s goal on the 10′ minute mark.
It was a simple move where Manuel Lanzini’s intelligent run saw him go behind United’s defense and set up Sakho for the strike, which eventually took a deflection from Daley Blind and beat David De Gea at his near post.
West Ham used the goal to their advantage and kept pushing United without any considerable reply. Half time came at the right time for Louis Van Gaal who needed a change from his players and he got that instantly with Anthony Martial scoring the equalizer five minutes after the restart.
Marcus Rashford combined cleverly with Juan Mata who then squared the ball for Martial to score from a simple tap-in. West Ham took time in recovering from the sucker punch and it allowed Man United to grow a foothold in the game.
Martial was not done there and when he received the ball from Rashford few minutes later, he made a darting run from the left wing which left West Ham’s defense for dead and it sent United in the lead.
That goal brought back United’s hopes of qualifying for Champions League but West Ham were not done yet.
Dimitri Payet took matters to his own hands and delivered two delicious balls for Antonio and Reid to make sure Upton Park bows out in style.
The result was a damaging blow for United’s Champions League aspirations who now need to win their game against Bournemouth and hope Man City lose their game against Swansea this weekend.
Image Credit: Getty
