Sunday 14 April 2019

Bobby Bubbles Player Ratings as Hammers Robbed at Old Trafford



A penalty brace from the endlessly likeable Paul Pogba was enough to claim the victory for a disappointing Manchester United side at Ye Olde Trafford yesterday evening. Nevertheless  there were many positives  for the Hammers  as  they  came within a whisker  of  completing  a rare  double  over the Red Devils.

Here are Bobby Bubbles' ratings:

Pellegrini: It takes balls to go to Old Trafford and stand toe to toe with the home side but that is the Pellegrini way and the travelling West Ham faithful were given plenty to appreciate. The Hammers dominated for much of the game and can feel justifiably aggrieved at coming up short in terms of points gained. Once again, Pellegrini demonstrated his belief in rotating the squad bringing in Zabaleta, Masuaku and Snodgrass. Apart from the overall performance, there were also excellent showings from Fabian Balbuena and a return to best form for Felipe Anderson. However, on the downside Manuel Lanzini hobbled off and looks set for a further period on the sideline. Pellegrini deserves particular credit for the second half showing where, despite a number of referee howlers in the first half, West Ham remained unperturbed sustaining what was an impressive performance  9/10.

Fabianski:  calm and assured as always. You really thought he might save the second penalty but unfortunately Pogba served up an unsaveable strike! 8/10

Zabaleta: excellent performance before running out of puff. You have to wonder if he would have done better against Martial for the second penalty. Still has plenty to offer despite the ageing legs. 7/10.

Ogbonna: never look troubled despite Manchester United playing a relatively attacking formation. Issa Diop has a real battle on his hands to regain a starting place. 7/10.

Balbuena:  it's great to have him back  and he again  showed great composure  and  was not really  under pressure in any way. Good distribution coming out of defence. 8/10

Masuaku: one of his better games where there were no defensive errors. Maybe he still has something to offer next season? 7/10.

Rice: The best midfielder on the park throughout and greatly overshadowed Pogba who had very little influence apart from the two penalties. 8/10.

Noble: Captain Claret loves getting stuck into Man United and looked to be thoroughly enjoying proceedings yesterday. Still has plenty to offer. 7.5/10.

Lanzini:  Starting to look more like his old self but still a little off the pace. Excellent assist for Anderson's goal and also had a decent shout for penalty when he was held back in the box. Let's hope his injury is nothing serious as he needs game time to get back to his best 7/10.

Anderson: Possibly our best player against Chelsea and again yesterday was our man of the match as he tormented Manchester United again and again. The switch to the right wing was an interesting experiment which worked well and increases our attacking options. Denied a perfectly legitimate goal in the first half before scoring what could easily have been a match winner in the second. 9/10.

Chicharito: We've said this before but he really doesn't offer enough to the general play. Limited contribution before being substituted. 5/10.

Snodgrass: will be furious about the first-half penalty which was  extremely soft  and it's debatable whether he actually made any contact with Juan Mata. However, he didn't allow this to discourage him and  delivered a series of excellent  corners throughout. 7/10.

Substitutes
Antonio: Tremendous stuff had a few barnstorming runs at the Utd defwnce, cracked one against the bar and was denied by a super De Gea save after a good header. Deserved more. 8/10.
Diangana: No major impact 5/10.
Fredericks: Oops. Clumsy challenge on Martial gave away the game.  3/10.

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