Manchester United stumbled at home to West Ham United on Wednesday night as their 1-1 draw left them just a point above Leicester in the race for the Champions League.
Mason Greenwood scored his tenth Premier League goal of the season, the first English teenager to do so since a certain Wayne Rooney, after the Red Devils fell behind after a lacklustre first half.
Michail Antonio scored his eighth goal since ‘Project Restart’ from the penalty spot after VAR spotted Paul Pogba’s blatant hand ball after Declan Rice’s fiercely struck free kick.
The point for the Hammers mathematically secures their Premier League survival for another season, while also benefiting United as well.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have reached 63 points for the season – just one more then Brendan Rodgers’ side in fifth – before they face the Foxes at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.
Simply avoiding defeat in the east Midlands will ensure United reach the Champions League for first time since 2018.
But the performance of David Moyes’ side at Old Trafford would perhaps suggest the Red Devils were fortunate to end the game with a point, despite boasting plenty of possession.
Buoyed by recent good results, including a comfortable win against Watford on Friday, the Hammers can look forward to another season in the top flight after the formalities of welcoming Aston Villa on Sunday.
It was, in truth, a rather limp response to the FA Cup loss to Chelsea, with a bright start quickly petering out after Anthony Martial forced Lukasz Fabianski into a low save and Greenwood also had an effort.
West Ham frustrated by sitting deep and soaking up the pressure, while posing questions with crosses from open play and set-pieces. Angelo Ogbonna underlined that threat when meeting a corner routine with a header that needed cleaner contact.
Marcus Rashford tried his luck from range in a bid to jolt their ponderous attack into life, before surprise inclusion Timothy Fosu-Mensah directed wide and Ogbonna threw himself in front of a Greenwood fizzer.
Solskjaer’s side were not only struggling for creativity but resilience at the back, with Victor Lindelof left breathing a sigh of relief when Antonio came in behind him to get away a header that David de Gea dealt with.
The under-fire United goalkeeper had precious little to deal in the first half with but would concede at the death.
Fosu-Mensah was booked for bringing down Antonio and Rice unleashed a fierce strike from the resulting free-kick, with Pogba hitting the deck after getting in the way of that effort.
That block led to audible squeals from apoplectic West Ham players, who made their calls for handball loud and clear to referee Paul Tierney.
The VAR eventually intervened and awarded a penalty that Antonio stepped up to coolly slot home.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka replaced Fosu-Mensah at the break and United took just six minutes to draw level.
Superb link-up between Greenwood and Martial eventually led to the former being played in by the Frenchman, with the teenager sending an emphatic left-footed strike past Fabianski.
‘Mason Greenwood the best player Manchester United have produced since George Best’
The hosts were on top from that point but were snatching at opportunities. Worse still, West Ham’s threat was not going away.
De Gea impressively tipped over a deflected Jarrod Bowen strike and Ben Johnson flashed wide as West Ham enjoyed a spell in the ascendancy, with Rice whipping just off target from distance.
The drinks break did not bring renewed impetus from the hosts and Fernandes was booked for an altercation with Mark Noble, which led the VAR to check for a possible red card for violent conduct.
The Portuguese did not see red and substitute Odion Ighalo directed wide as the hosts tried, but failed, to eke out a winner.
