Key events
73 mins: Ben Johnson will go to right-back now as Coufal was taken off. Phillips has replaced Soucek to give a more dynamic feel to the West Ham engine room.
72 mins: Varane is straight in at the deep end as United are forced to defend a couple of Ward-Prowse dead balls … and the defending is good this time. Varane, then Maguire and then Shaw all head away.
Phillips and Cornet are coming on for the Hammers, here, with boos for the Manchester City loanee.
71 mins: I spoke too soon on Martinez. He’s going off, down the tunnel to get some treatment. Varane comes on.
69 mins: That’s a superb piece of defending from Dalot to deny Bowen. A good ball from Alvarez was missed by Maguire but the Portuguese slid in to block heroically. Cue huge cheers from the home fans.
68 mins: There looked to be serious concern for Martinez from his United teammates; it was a jarring of the knee in a tangle with Soucek. But he got up fairly quickly and will continue.
66 mins: The visitors are now enjoying plenty of possession, albeit the United defence is standing pretty firm.
Martinez might have an issue here, he’s clutching his knee after a challenge in the corner.
64 mins: The first United substitution of the day sees Mainoo replaced by Scott McTominay. Why of course.
63 mins: Poor decision-making from Garnacho, this time opting not to shoot and trying to play in Rashford. The left-footed strike was on for him as he cut inside from that right flank.
62 mins: West Ham haven’t won a game in 2024 and Man United haven’t lost one. Yet despite that and the 2-0 scoreline, this still doesn’t feel like a safe three points. Far from it.
60 mins: How long before Moyes makes a change here? The Hammers may be in need of more forward presence to support Bowen. They’ve got Cornet and and Ings to call upon.
58 mins: Garnacho steams down the left to collect a wonderful long pass from Casemiro. He cuts back to Fernandes whose shot is deflected and then Rashford gets it all wrong and sends the ball high into the Stretford End.
57 mins: Shaw does well to see out Kudus, but West Ham have responded quite well in the past few minutes. Don’t rule them out completely.
55 mins: Dalot then takes aim from 25 yards after a short corner and he’s not a million miles away from target. That second goal just seems to have given Ten Hag’s team more confidence.
… as I say that, West Ham break and Alvarez shoots straight at Onana.
54 mins: Ooft, Mainoo with a lovely touch to set Garnacho off and running, who in turn tries to play in Dalot. Better football from United.
Was Alejandro Garnacho’s celebration a little dig at Kudus and West Ham?
52 mins: The momentum is with the home side now and Rashford plays a lovely give-and-go with Shaw, then arrows a shot just beyond the far post as he drifted in from the left.
51 mins: That Emerson miss … West Ham are going to rue that unless than can hit back in this game. We know United haven’t been brilliant at protecting 2-0 leads this season.
Not that 2-0 tells the story of this game whatsoever.
GOAL! Manchester United 2-0 West Ham (Garnacho, 49)
Out of nothing, United have a second and it’s Garnacho!
It’s worked quite easily to the right and the youngster cuts in on his left foot and his shot takes a wicked and decisive deflection off Aguerd and goes in.
48 mins: There’s been little discernible increase in the tempo of United’s play since the resumption, which was the one thing that irked the home crowd earlier on.
Emerson is gifted the ball by a Maguire mistake but takes his time and skies his effort. Wow, that was gilt-edged.
46 mins: Lisandro Martinez was United’s best player in the first half and he starts the second with a smart piece of defending that gets his side going forward.
Second half: Yep, it’s Fabianski for Areola, as we get back under way.
Presumably that’s due to an injury.
The good news for Ten Hag and United is that they lead, despite not playing well. If they can replicate their first half performance from the Wolves game in midweek (probably United’s best 45-minutes of the campaign), they’ll have enough to win this.
It looks like West Ham are going to change their goalkeeper at half-time, as Lukasz Fabianski warms up.
Oh dear. I’ve started a debate here. Mac Millings says:
Regarding your 36th-minute question (‘How many of these West Ham players would get in the current United XI?’), since West Ham are clearly superior, might the answer be ‘All of them’?
Grab yourself a half-time brew and enjoy the only goal of this game so far, via Rasmus.
I asked a question on 36 minutes about how many West Ham players would get into the current Manchester United XI and Joe Pearson attempts an answer on email:
Given Ten Hag’s eccentric squad selections, I’d say there’s no way to tell. Zouma? Mavropanos? Ings? Yes, definitely Ings!
I’m not having Danny Ings in my combined lineup, Joe, but maybe that’s just me. Here’s a rough estimation: Onana, Dalot, Zouma, Martinez, Shaw, JWP, Casemiro, Kudus, Fernandes, Bowen, Rashford
HT: Manchester United 1-0 West Ham
The hosts do at least finish the half by creating a chance for Højlund, who drills into the side netting as the angle from the left was tightening. United have the lead through the Dane, but they’ve not dominated the game by any stretch of the imagination.
West Ham have carved out numerous chances and will feel they ought to be on the scoreboard here. André Onana has made a couple of smart saves to keep it at 1-0.
45 mins: We’re now into one minute of added time.
The half-time whistle would very much suit United. Ten Hag might want to fire a few rockets up his players in the dressing room.
43 mins: It’s all West Ham at the end of this first half. Ward-Prowse is making them tick, while Kudus has been excellent. JWP fires one well wide from distance.
41 mins: Another West Ham corner brings about a header from Alvarez that is flashed across the face of goal. It was just behind Kudus who was lingering, waiting to turn one in.
40 mins: The United fans are getting a bit restless with their team’s slow tempo in possession, while Casemiro and Fernandes exchange a few words in frustration with each other.
The home side lead but they can play a lot better than this. West Ham continue to threaten an equaliser.
38 mins: The game’s first yellow card goes to Soucek for a ridiculously cynical trip on Rashford as United were counterattacking.
36 mins: How many of these West Ham players would get in the current United XI?
Kudus, Ward-Prowse, maybe Bowen? Areola?
35 mins: Casemiro over-commits with a sliding tackle and it allows West Ham to fling players forward … Martinez doesn’t err with his challenge in the box, though. Good from the Argentinian.
33 mins: For once, West Ham get their final ball wrong – Kudus’ cross was overhit – but United are struggling to find their flow in midfield.
31 mins: Onana saves again, this time from Kudus who peels away from Diogo Dalot at the back post to meet Bowen’s cross with a header that the United keeper telegraphed.
30 mins: United are getting undone in the middle far too often for their liking, but a thumping Martinez tackle gets them out of trouble on this occasion, before Mainoo progresses it forward.
The 18-year-old is doing a lot of the important dirty work at the moment.