West Ham 1 Man Utd 0: De Gea howler costs Red Devils as second defeat in a week leaves them clinging onto top four spot
WITNESSING a howler at the London Stadium is nothing new for West Ham fans.
To their relief, on this occasion, it came from the visitors – and there are no prizes for guessing who the Manchester United player at fault was.
David De Gea cost his side once again with a mistake you simply had to see to believe.
The limpest of long-range shots from Said Benrahma into the 27th minute followed by the flappiest of wrists from De Gea before watching it dribble over the line.
This was supposed to be a momentous occasion for the Spaniard, becoming the club’s most-capped keeper of all time with 540 appearances.
Instead, with his contract expiring next month, all the talk will be whether boss Erik ten Hag needs to finally dip into the market to end De Gea’s 12-year stint as United’s No.1.
United want to get back to being elite, but their first-choice keeper no longer is.
Their Dutch coach has endlessly defended his man in between the sticks.
The good outweighs the bad, Ten Hag insists. Forget about the errors, focus on the world-class reaction stops.
If only we could, Erik. Right now, it seems like De Gea is left red-faced every other week, whether it is with balls at his feet or letting them fly past him.
After making five mishaps leading to goals in all competitions last season, he is now on four this year, level with Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris. A stat chart you do not want to be leading.
Had it not been for a rather lenient and favourable refereeing decision from Peter Bankes, De Gea could have made two in one game with another hairy moment after the break.
You only have to think back to mid-April on that fateful Europa League quarter-final evening in Seville, where his embarrassing gaffes ultimately saw United knocked out.
Yet it is in the Premier League where these blunders hit hardest, none more so than when they are still sweating on securing a Champions League spot.
This result, thanks to De Gea and his misfiring team-mates, sees United blow the chance to jump above Newcastle into third while remaining just a point above fifth-placed Liverpool with a game to spare.
De Gea aside, this was another away-day performance to forget for the Red Devils. Of the nine Prem games they have lost this season, eight have been on the road.
Marcus Rashford? Invisible. Bruno Fernandes? Anonymous. Casemiro? Missing.
United may be on course to lift two trophies in Ten Hag’s debut year in charge, but carry on like this and it could end on a seriously sour note.
With the ownership still up in the air, missing out on Europe’s biggest competition would simply be catastrophic.
And to top it all off, United were made to look increasingly average by a West Ham team who at their very best this campaign have struggled to be average themselves.
The Hammers are surely safe now. Seven points off the drop with three games left, and with relegation rivals Leeds and Leicester still to play.
At last, David Moyes can turn his focus to getting the East Londoners into a first major European final since 1976 ahead of a Europa Conference League semi.
Moyes returned to his strongest starting XI after a sickness bug ravaged his squad. Skipper Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek and Nayef Aguerd all recovered to feature.
After the last-gasp 1-0 loss away to Brighton, Ten Hag reintroduced Wout Weghorst to lead the line for the first time in just over a month to inspire some attacking intent.
It was a ferocious start, West Ham winning the ball high up the pitch and United countering with pace. Marcus Rashford blazed over before Fernandes, Antony and Eriksen went close.
De Gea had shown some early shaky legs at the back with a pass straight to Rice, but was soon left face down in the turf wanting to be gobbled up.
Benrahma won the ball just inside United’s half and galloped goalwards. There was little danger with Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof back to cover.
Replays showed that De Gea’s left foot slipped before Benrahma’s tried it from 25 yards, but he still managed to get an incredibly weak hand to it and there was no deflection, and no hiding place.
He was lucky not to be facing a penalty last in the first half as Lindelof looked to have clearly handled another Benrahma attempt. VAR bizarrely chose not to intervene.
De Gea came out for the second half and immediately had a pass intercepted. He then flapped at a long throw that was bundled in by Michail Antonio, only to be harshly deemed a foul.
United never looked like bailing their keeper out, even with Weghorst being hooked for Anthony Martial. It was 2-0 in the 73rd minute but Soucek’s header was a yard offside.
A first Prem win against his old club United for 11 years, Moyes ought to raise a glass of Spanish red to De Gea the disastrous.