Ever since West Ham United hosted and received Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground on February 8, there has been a debate and discussion going on between Sam Allardyce and Louis van Gaal. The coach of West Ham United, Sam Allardyce stated that his team couldn’t maintain the lead they had due to the ‘’long ball’’ tactics that Manchester United was utilizing during the match.
Louis van Gaal responded to this comment by displaying a 4 page report which had details and statistics concerning everything that happened during the match.
CheikhouKouyate scored the opening goal of the game at the 49th minute which gave West Ham United the lead that they deserved after being the better side during the first half and the majority of the 2nd half as well. Just when it seemed like the home team was going to snatch the victory, Daley Blind arrived at the 92nd minute to a late goal and rescue 1 point for Manchester United.
David de Gea was once again the hero for Manchester United as he denied the attacking forces of Enner Valencia and DiafraSakho from scoring in the first half and the Spanish shot-stopper was the main reason on why the scoreboard remained goal-less in the first part of the match even though West Ham United was clearly the better team.
“The lads are absolutely gutted in there, and so they should be. I think it was an absolutely fantastic performance. I thought we were going to make sure we saw it through, but unfortunately for us it was not to be.I suppose in the end we couldn’t cope with long-ball United. It was just thump it forward and see what they could get, and in the end it paid off for them.” Sam Allardyce after the match was over.
The team of Sam Allardyce was the better overall one and did deserve to collect all 3 points but Manchester United somehow managed to salvage 1 point from this match even though their performance was underwhelming and this is turning into a routine thing for Manchester United as they have done this in the past on a frequent basis as they gain points and even victories.