Benjamin Sesko was already showing signs of becoming a proper Manchester United player before Michael Carrick walked through the door. So the current United manager can’t quite claim the credit for that one.
But Carrick can throw his hat on the growing feeling at Old Trafford that a season can turn permanently for the better and it was to absolutely nobody’s surprise that his team retrieved a lost cause via Sesko’s outstretched boot five minutes in to added time here in east London.
This was not a particularly good United performance and had they lost to Tomas Soucek’s 50th minute goal then they could not have complained. After recent days of adrenaline at Old Trafford, Carrick’s team were a little flat back out on the road again.
But they didn’t lose and that will mean everything to them. Not just because they went home with a point that keeps their nose ahead of Chelsea in the fourth Champions League spot but also because it further deepens a new found belief that this could yet be their season – relatively speaking – after all.
It was a good goal, too, by the way. The game pretty did feel up for United by that stage. Indeed, gaps had started to appear in the away end and that is never a good sign.
But when Bryan Mbeumo landed a cross from the right on Sesko’s instep, he managed to cleverly divert it almost across himself and inside the near post while under pressure from ten yards. A proper striker’s goal from a big summer signing who is finally starting to look like one.
Benjamin Sesko provided Man United with a much needed lifeline in the game’s dying minutes
Tomas Soucek had put the hosts ahead shortly after the half-time mark and West Ham looked strong throughout
It was all very rough on West Ham, who had been excellent throughout. The London club have been on their own good run recently and as such this was a meeting of the recently upwardly mobile. Their coach Nuno Espirito Santo has brought a structure and understanding to their football and they should take huge heart from this performance and indeed the result. Once the disappointment wears off they will realise that – with teams like Tottenham and Nottingham Forest moving in the wrong direction – they have a very reasonable chance of Premier League survival indeed.
The first half had been even. West Ham’s man of the moment – with five goals from five games before this one – Crysencio Summerville had cut inside from the left and tested United goalkeeper Senne Lammens with a shot from 20 yards while at the other end a neat United corner routine saw Aaron Wan-Bissaka clear off the line from his old United team-mate Luke Shaw.
But Shaw, fit and in contention now for an England recall, was to have a less impressive moment early in the second half as West Ham broke away to score.
United thought they were going to get a throw-in down by the near corner flag in the West Ham half but they didn’t get one and when the home team cleared long and high, Shaw made a decision he was to regret.
With hindsight, he probably should have come to try and head the ball before it bounced. But instead he allowed it drop and under pressure could only divert it in to the path of Soucek who in turn fed Jarrod Bowen out on the right.
Bowen still had work to do as he had been forced very wide by the weight of the pass and United had men back. But Soucek was able to track past United bodies towards the six-yard line and when the low cross arrived at the near post he was able to divert it under goalkeeper Lammens and in to the far corner of the goal.
The goal lit up the stadium. This was what they had come for. Another huge step forward for a team that looked so lost only a few weeks ago.
But inevitably the goal also sparked United a little. Ten minutes or so later they thought they were level when Casemiro stormed in at the back post to head Kobbie Mainoo’s deep out swinger down and in to the goal. But the Brazilian – enjoying quite the swansong season – was found by VAR to have been a fraction offside.
Crysencio Summerville continued to prove his worth for West Ham in another bright showing
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Luke Shaw was a weak link for the visitors when the hosts chose their moment to break the deadlock
Casemiro thought he had found the equaliser in lightning quick time but his effort was chalked off upon review
Michael Carrick’s winning record has taken a dent but the interim manager remains unbeaten
United pressed hard and made predictable subs. Sesko for Mathus Cunha proved to be the big one.
They didn’t look hugely like scoring, though, and as the game became stretched at the death West Ham had a couple of break aways of their own, led by their substitutes Callum Wilson and Adama Traore.
Two last ditch United tackles saved the day on those occasions and at the other end the defending was equally impressive. The two West Ham central defenders and goalkeeper Mads Hermansen – recalled from the wilderness for the weekend win at Burnley – were excellent.
When United forward Joshua Zirkzee flicked a header across goal and wide in the 94th minute, victory appeared to be West Ham’s. But Sesko had his own plan and executed it beautifully.
The Carrick bandwagon struck its first big obstacle here and hit it hard. But the wheels remain on.