Juan Mata and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the goals as Manchester United made it six straight Premier League wins with a 2-0 victory against 10-man West Ham United at the London Stadium on Monday.
Sofiane Feghouli was controversially sent from the field in the 15th minute and Man United ultimately made their one-man advantage count as second-half goals from Mata and Ibrahimovic moved the in-form Red Devils to within one point of fourth-place Arsenal in the table.
West Ham almost went ahead late in the first period when Lanzini bent a super effort towards the top corner, but De Gea was on hand to make an outstanding save as it remained goalless at the break.
Juan Mata was introduced for Darmian at the interval as Jose Mourinho moved Carrick into central defence and there was a greater intensity about the away side in the early stages of the second period, with Lingard curling one over the crossbar after West Ham failed to clear their lines.
Marcus Rashford for Lingard was Man United’s second change of the match in the 58th minute, but it was West Ham that should have scored two minutes later – Antonio going through on goal and being denied by another De Gea save.
Instead, it was Man United that made the breakthrough in the 63rd minute when Rashford breezed past Havard Nordtveit in a wide position before stopping and delivering into Mata, who swept the ball into the far corner with a super finish as West Ham were made to regret missed opportunities.
Man United had their second in the 78th minute, however, when Ibrahimovic smashed the ball home from inside the box after Obiang had been caught out by Herrera on the edge of the box.
Replays though showed that the Swede was offside in another decision that went against the home side.
Randolph made a super save to prevent Herrera from making it 3-0 five minutes from time, but it mattered little in terms of the final result as Man United secured yet another three points to close the gap on the Champions League positions.
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