An “angry” Ruben Amorim watched Manchester United blow a chance to rise to fifth in the Premier League when West Ham United salvaged a late 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Thursday.
Soungoutou Magassa’s 83rd-minute equalizer canceled out Diogo Dalot’s opening goal that had put Manchester United on course to move level on points with fourth-place Chelsea.
Bruno Fernandes squandered two chances to score a winner in stoppage-time — blazing a shot wide from inside the penalty area and then volleying another off target.
Photo: REUTERS
Manchester United head coach Amorim said afterward he was “frustrated” and “angry” after seeing his team drop more points.
“We are really inconsistent,” he said. “If you look at the goal — 83 minutes — we have a long ball, we have everything under control, we need to do better.”
Manchester United have only won one of their past five games — drawing three.
Despite that run, they had the opportunity to move within reach of the Champions League places. That looked likely when in the 58th minute Casemiro’s long-range shot was controlled in the penalty area by Dalot.
The United defender then spun and powered a shot past West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
It was a game of few chances, with West Ham rarely threatening to find an equalizer. However, a late corner saw Jarrod Bowen’s flicked header cleared off the line by Noussair Mazraoui.
Magassa reacted quickest and side-footed his shot low into the corner to score his first goal for the club and spark celebrations from the visiting fans.
“It felt amazing,” said Magassa, a summer signing from AS Monaco. “We played a good game, and everyone fought. I am so happy to score my first goal in the Premier League.”
The result leaves Manchester United in eighth and West Ham 18th.
The Red Devils remain just two points adrift of the top four — emphasizing how costly their recent run has been.
Draws against Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham all came in games in which they had taken the lead. The only loss on that run came at home to an Everton team that was down to 10 men early in the game.
“We are in the time of the year where you cannot drop too many points or else the distance to the top will be even higher,” Dalot said. “We want to be there and be in the top four or five.”
“Today we had a good chance and that is why the disappointment is even bigger,” he said.
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