Noble would back himself against anyone
Manchester United travelled to West Ham tonight in the most predictable 0-0 of all time, with both teams playing at a leisurely pace in true end of season style.
Bar the occasional long shot from Pogba, and one from Shaw which prompted José Mourinho to jump out his chair and give the young left-back an earful (how DARE he venture forward and have a pop), very little happened of note.
The most exciting moment of the game came late on. Paul Pogba, as he tends to do quite often, was found surrounded by opposition players with no options, and subsequently lost the ball. He felt he had been fouled, but the referee waved play on. In frustration, Pogba then tripped Mark Noble, who was running into space away from the cluster of bodies.
Noble did not appreciate the lazy, cynical tackle from Pogba, but instead of remaining calm in the final minutes of the game, he exploded. He was untethered and his rage knew no bounds. Noble jumped up and launched himself, chest first, into Paul Pogba, who was unmoved by Noble’s best efforts. The West Ham captain then resorted to grabbing Pogba’s by the throat but that failed to achieve anything either.
https://twitter.com/mufcgif/status/994677001800880129
It seemed not only unnecessary, but overly ambitious of Noble to square up to someone almost twice his size. People enjoyed mocking his attempt to bully Pogba.
Nowhere but a football pitch would Mark Noble dare to start a row with Paul Pogba. pic.twitter.com/HccMRYvWQM
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) May 10, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed watching Mark Noble bounce off Paul Pogba's chest. It's made this game worthwhile.
— Thomas Coast (@thcoast) May 10, 2018
Mark Noble trying to act like a big man and just bouncing off Pogba’s chest looooool
— Charlie ⚡️ (@abcharliefghijk) May 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/futbolash/status/994676833470877697
https://twitter.com/SemperFiUtd/status/994676129540669440
https://twitter.com/Crispyy5_/status/994676433715908610
To his credit, Pogba’s resistance to react was admirable. It is very surprising that Noble managed to escape with just a yellow card, though. That didn’t go down so well.
Fair play to Pogba for not reacting then. No idea how Noble doesn’t get a red.
— Si Lloyd (@SmnLlyd5) May 10, 2018
https://twitter.com/KingdomsFX/status/994676615845220352
Thankfully, because you know, we hate to see this sort of thing, they made up at full time.
And despite all of that, Mark Noble and Paul Pogba hug after full time. #WHUMUN pic.twitter.com/EfgwDbEKt3
— Brace The Hammer (@BraceTheHammer) May 10, 2018