West Ham vs Man United player ratings: Lucas Paqueta stars as Hammers beat dismal Red Devils
West Ham United picked up a big three points thanks to a deserved 2-0 success over Manchester United on Saturday, kicking off the Premier League Christmas fixture list with a late flurry to spark a match which had earlier looked drab and lifeless.
A fairly dismal first half resulted in few efforts on goal, with defences on top and a lack of pace about the game the most notable feature. Jarrod Bowen finally opened the scoring inside the final 20 minutes, finishing from close-range after a lovely Lucas Paqueta pass, before Mohammed Kudus wrapped up the win shortly afterward following a defensive error.
Here are the player ratings from the London Stadium.
West Ham
Alphonse Areola, 7 – Good save against Garnacho when one-on-one in the first half, then almost spilled a basic daisy-cutter into the net. Very much a watching brief for long spells of this match.
Vladimir Coufal, 6 – Standard back-and-forth from the indefatigable right-back. Not always able to keep up with Garnacho on the run but a solid enough outing and got forward when possible.
Konstantinos Mavropanos, 7 – Some good moments and recoveries to thwart United’s build-up play, but also a couple of sloppy instances with his positioning. Got away with them because United have next to nothing in attack.
Kurt Zouma, 9 – Bossed Hojlund in the first half, the highlight of which was holding him off after a sharp turn for about 10 metres, seeing the ball out for a goal kick. Two magnificent clearances on the slide inside his own six-yard box second half. Excellent performance.
Emerson Palmieri, 7 – A little more adventurous than Coufal, and fared better against his winger from a defensive standpoint too.
Edson Alvarez, 8 – The most accomplished central midfielder on the pitch. Very direct, very aggressive, rarely let anybody past him and was safe enough with his passing too.
Tomas Soucek, 6 – Not his best game but worked hard, kept fairly tight in the centre and set the platform for others to offer danger going forward.
Mohammed Kudus, 7 – A hit and miss day at times. Some wayward passing – one almost very costly first half – and booked for fouling Shaw, but also led some dangerous counters and absolutely streaked away to bury the brilliant second goal for the Hammers.
James Ward-Prowse, 6 – A series of dangerous set-piece deliveries, though no assist for him this time. Generally kept the game moving without really being a factor for West Ham’s attacking intent.
Lucas Paqueta, 9 – Just about the only player to show any real technical quality in the game. Some great play down the left but his biggest impact was a deft flick over the defence to assist Bowen from the right channel. Immediately then set up Kudus for another centrally.
Jarrod Bowen, 8 – Not too much in the way of service to him but full of running, closed down the goalkeeper non-stop and had a decent header saved too. Took a great first touch to beat Onana at the second attempt in the final 20 minutes.
Subs: P Fornals n/a, B Johnson n/a
