West Ham 1-2 Man Utd: David de Gea saves late Mark Noble penalty
- Published
How Man Utd beat West Ham in frantic finale
The moment Mark Noble stepped off the West Ham bench to take an injury-time penalty against Manchester United, there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome.
On paper, it all made sense.
Noble is one of the most prolific penalty takers in Premier League history - his tally of 27 bettered by only three players, and representing 84.4% of the 32 he has attempted.
Add to that David de Gea's poor record of saving spot-kicks - the Spanish keeper had not stopped one in the league since October 2014, a run of 21 - and logic suggests it was a sound decision from Hammers boss David Moyes.
But logic and football rarely go hand in hand.
The result was De Gea springing to his left to push away Noble's effort for a dramatic 2-1 victory for Manchester United.
"Everything was a bit crazy," said Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea. "I saw Declan Rice with the ball and then suddenly I saw Mark Noble with the ball.
"It was a bit strange. He's the specialist of the team but I made the save and we got the three points."
Noble replaced Bowen on 93 minutes and 58 seconds, missing his penalty on 94 minutes and 48 seconds. It was his only touch of the ball in the game
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told BBC Sport: "That's football for you - it's ups and downs. You get used to working in this environment. It's not great for your heart but this is why we play football. We looked down and out and David pulled off the save."
Moyes said Noble's record "is very good but it just didn't quite work today", and former England international Karen Carney said on BBC Radio 5 Live: "Mark Noble looked so cool stepping up.
"He tried to put it in the bottom corner, but David de Gea got a strong hand to it and and made a brilliant save."
On a day of cruel twists for West Ham, it was their former player Jesse Lingard who ended up scoring the winning goal, coming off the bench and curling home a delightful strike on 88 minutes.
Lingard had spent the second half of last season on loan at London Stadium, netting nine goals in 16 games, and he did not celebrate after being applauded by the Hammers supporters.
Sunday's winner came in the same week as Lingard made an error against Young Boys in the Champions League, seeing his attempted backpass cut out as the Swiss side claimed a famous victory.
England international Lingard told Sky Sports: "I got a brilliant reception. I had a good time here but I have to move on with Manchester United and do my best with the club."
Moyes said: "Jesse had been great for us. He had a terrible mistake midweek, he came back and scored a worldie against us."
Solskjaer added: "Football, highs, lows that's how it is. You have to learn to live with the highs and the lows. He said sorry after Tuesday and everyone said that's not necessary, he came on and was brilliant."
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Our coverage of your Premier League club is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment
