Mason Greenwood rescues draw for lacklustre Manchester United against West Ham

Manchester United may have moved into the Premier League’s top four positions for the first time since September but this was not a performance to inspire confidence ahead of a final day showdown away to Leicester City which will decide this season’s Champions League qualification.

This draw with West Ham was enough to leapfrog and move a single point ahead Brendan Rodgers’s side. Another point at the King Power on Sunday will therefore guarantee a top-four finish and a place in European football’s elite club competition, but Solskjaer’s side will need to play better than this to avoid a defeat of potentially damaging consequences.

United will lament the two points dropped against David Moyes’s disciplined side, who mathematically guaranteed safety from relegation which was not in doubt before kick-off. If Solskjaer’s side now lose to Leicester, they will then be forced to rely on winning the Europa League’s mini-tournament in Germany next month in order to reach its parent competition and negotiate what many consider to be the tougher half of the draw.

Still, it could have been worse. West Ham led at the break and were good value for their one-goal advantage, established by Michail Antonio’s penalty on the cusp of half time. Paul Pogba had conceded the spot-kick with a needless handball while blocking a free-kick but his blushes were spared in the early stages of the second half by Mason Greenwood’s 17th goal in all competitions.

United laboured in a lethargic first half, with their attempts to break down an organised West Ham defence far too predictable. Greenwood came close to a breakthrough when a Brandon Williams cross deflected kindly into his path, though his shot still hit one of the several white shirts directly in front of him. It said it all that this was United’s clearest sight of Lukasz Fabianski’s goal in the first half.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah, trusted to make his second appearance in the space of a week after previously not playing in three years, had a poor 45 minutes and was hauled off at break. Not before conceding the free-kick which led to the penalty, however. Mark Noble rolled the ball to Declan Rice whose shot struck Pogba. The way the midfielder collapsed to the ground made it seem as if he had been hit in the face. In fact, he had beaten the ball away with arms.

Pogba’s split-second decision to protect himself rather than United’s hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League left neither referee Paul Tierney nor Peter Bankes, the VAR, with much choice. After a short review, Antonio sent De Gea the wrong way and the half-time whistle blew. When the two teams re-emerged, Antonio was spotted laughing about Pogba’s thought process with Bruno Fernandes by the television cameras.

He would not be laughing for long. United levelled within six minutes of the restart courtesy of neat footwork and a pair of delicate one-twos between Anthony Martial and Greenwood on the edge of the penalty area. Once Greenwood had evaded the mass of bodies attempting to come between him and Martial, he shifted the ball onto his left foot and rifled into Fabianski’s bottom left-hand corner.

No teenager has ever scored more goals in a single season in all competitions for United than Greenwood. Not Best, not Kidd and not Rooney, who all also reached 17 in a single campaign. Greenwood will likely surpass them between now and the end of United’s journey through the Europa League and you wonder where they would be without his six goals in eight league games since lockdown.

But Greenwood and his team-mates failed to build upon that momentum, with United’s attack reverting to the one-dimensional play of the first half. Their only other clear opening fell to Odion Ighalo five minutes from time. It was his first touch of the ball after replacing Marcus Rashford and he shanked wide. If United are to secure Champions League football on Sunday, they will have to be much sharper.