What. Just. Happened?
Caught your breath back yet? Nah, us neither.
Manchester United claimed victory at West Ham on Sunday – but only after a frankly ludicrous last few minutes in the London Stadium.
Said Benrahma’s deflected effort had given West Ham the lead in the first half, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to draw the visitors level soon after.
That was how it remained until the closing stages, with Ronaldo visibly frustrated at not being awarded a penalty after going down in the box after contact from Vladimir Coufal.
Step forward Jesse Lingard, back at West Ham for the first time since the loan spell which has jump-started his career. On as a sub, he curled in what proved to be the winning goal for United.
https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1439606175969038339
Despite the fact stoppage time was looming when Lingard struck, things weren’t quite done there.
Ronaldo was felled again inside the area – this time by Kurt Zouma – only for his appeals to be ignored once more. Replays showed that he was clearly taken down by the challenge, but referee was not asked to review the incident on a pitch-side monitor.
West Ham went forward, and as Andriy Yarmolenko attempted to fire a cross into the United box, the ball hit Luke Shaw’s arm. This time, VAR deemed it worthy of a review, and the penalty was given.
David Moyes sent Mark Noble on to take the kick. Incredibly, though, David De Gea – criticised for his inability to save any of Villarreal’s 11 penalties in the Europa League final last May – was able to punch it away, securing victory for United.
