Premier League
West Ham United 0-2 Manchester United 

Monday, 2nd January 2017
by Staff Writer #2

An astonishingly poor performance from a referee noted for his love of the limelight proved the difference between the two sides at the London Stadium this evening.

Mike Dean dismissed Sofiane Feghouli on 15 minutes after Phil Jones injured himself executing a disgraceful scissors challenge on the Irons no.7.

Given Dean's long history of controversial decisions, his decision to dismiss the innocent party in in the incident is perhaps not as big a surprise as it might otherwise have been but it was still an appalling travesty of justice.

Dean was ably assisted by his assistants as Randoplh saved and a clearly offside Lingaard hit the post.

The Irons arguably had the better chances in the first half as Lanzini twice tested De Gea and Antonio should have opened the scoring in the second half, his glancing header from a Payet free-kick going just wide.

Antonio had an even better chance a few minutes later when put through one-on-one with De Gea but the Manchester United 'keeper saved low down.

The visitors took the lead on 63 minutes when sub Rashford pulled back from the by-line for fellow sub Mata to convert.

A woefully inept evening from the officials was complete on 78 minutes as both Dean and his assistant somehow missed no fewer than THREE Manchester United players in offside positions, including scorer Ibrahimovic who doubled the lead.

Overall it was gutsy performance from the home side who were applauded off for their efforts at the final whistle.

Meanwhile many observers are asking why Mike Dean has been allowed to spoil yet another game given his propensity for making himself the centre of attention, particularly when on live TV, though given the protection of PGMOL it is unlikely that the official will receive anything like the punishment he deserves.

Manchester City are the next visitors to the London Stadium in a Friday FA Cup third round tie kicking off at 7:55pm.



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Player Ratings

Darren Randolph
Looked solid with one fine save and quite a few more routine ones.


Cheikhou Kouyate
Our lack of defensive capability on the right saw him covering two or three positions at once. Not bad under the circumstances.


Aaron Cresswell
Still some way from his best and that back pass was a shocker.


Winston Reid
Given a hard time by Mbokana. It probably ended up all square.


Angelo Ogbonna
When Mbokana wasn?EUR(TM)t tormenting Reid he moved on to Ogbonna with similar results.


Pedro Obiang
Slightly unfortunate to be hooked at half-time but something had to change.


Michail Antonio
As the game progressed he became more and more of a threat. Went down a bit too easy for the penalty for my liking though. Not something I?EUR(TM)m keen on.


Mark Noble
Stuttered a bit. A few good minutes here a dodgy moment there. Judged that header on to the post to perfection. Didn?EUR(TM)t he?


Andy Carroll
More of an influence defensively than as a striker, which, in case you had forgotten, is what he is there for.


Manuel Lanzini
Not at all unfortunate to be hooked at half time because something had to change.


Dimitri Payet
Anonymous for an hour. Better in the last 30.



Substitutes

Edimilson Fernandes
A decent half.


Andre Ayew
Still not sure where he is supposed to really be playing but was much more influential than Lanzini and was unlucky not to score.


Havard Nordtveit
Brought on to run down the clock.


Adrian San Miguel Del Castillo
Did not play.


Reece Burke
Did not play.


Lewis Page
Did not play.


Josh Cullen
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Darren Randolph, Cheikhou Kouyate, Aaron Cresswell, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, Pedro Obiang, Michail Antonio, Mark Noble, Andy Carroll, Manuel Lanzini, Dimitri Payet.

Goals: None.

Booked: Payet 29 Sofiane Feghouli 15 HÃ¥vard Nordtveit 91      .

Sent Off: Sofiane Feghouli 15    .

Manchester United: De Gea, Valencia, Jones, Rojo, Darmian (Mata 46), Ander Herrera, Carrick, Pogba, Mkhitaryan (Smalling 62), Ibrahimovic, Lingard (Rashford 58).

Subs not used: Martial, Young, Romero, Fellaini.

Goals: Mata (63), Ibrahimovic (78).

Booked: Darmian (42), Valencia (75).

Sent off: None.

Referee: Mike Dean.

Attendance: 56,996.

Man of the Match: Darren Randolph.