West Ham United 1 Manchester United 0: Reo-Coker's goal completes day of unwelcome drama for United

Sam Wallace
Monday 18 December 2006 01:00 GMT
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If he could bring himself to joke about it, Sir Alex Ferguson might have suggested to Alan Curbishley yesterday that, after 15 years, the new West Ham manager had picked one hell of a day to record his first victory over Manchester United. Not that there was much to laugh about for the Scot on the afternoon that the title race took another extraordinary twist that proved to be painful for the men from Manchester.

As Ferguson himself said, the title is not decided in December; but the drama of the day was such that, at times, you could almost start to believe that it was. First, Chelsea resurrected themselves in spectacular fashion at Goodison Park, twice coming from behind to beat Everton, then Curbishley's team won his first match in charge through Nigel Reo-Coker's late goal. The gap between United and Chelsea is down to two points. The tension is telling on both sides and they are not even halfway yet.

You could not begrudge Curbishley the dream start to his West Ham managerial career as he punched the air at the final whistle, although it was typical for this understated man that, even on this occasion, the day's real winner was elsewhere. He was Jose Mourinho, whose team are undoubtedly capable of playing the most awe-inspiring football in the Premiership, and who can consider his weekend's work with the greatest pride.

Yesterday the Premiership's two leading sides were asked profound questions of their resolve: Chelsea's response, that comeback against Everton, will live long in the memory. For Ferguson's team, the afternoon's events seem only to confuse the picture even more. Are they strong enough to win Ferguson's ninth Premiership title or are they destined to crumble as the great blue machine at Stamford Bridge rumbles ever closer?

Among the guilty are Rio Ferdinand, who will not remember yesterday's performance with any great pride, and Louis Saha, who frittered away enough chances to win the game. The scarcity of options for Ferguson on the bench will have been of greatest concern. Such a pity for him that Henrik Larsson, who travelled with the United party yesterday as a prelude to his arrival next month, was not eligible. The Swede cannot come soon enough.

But what an afternoon for Upton Park, which ended with a new hope around the stadium. In 18th position and with only 17 points, this venerable football institution is still a long way from Premiership safety, but a manager hardly famous for the spectacular during his 15 years at Charlton has made a grand entrance.

United ended in disarray, Edwin van der Sar up for corners, Wayne Rooney the last man in defence, picking up possession and desperately trying to gather the momentum for his side to attack. Ferdinand was pitted against Ferdinand and the match-winner was Reo-Coker. Booed at the start for what the West Ham fans regard as his part in Alan Pardew's demise, he was cheered at the end.

It was a game that started in the shadow of Chelsea's comeback, and it was hard not to think that must have played some part in the thinking of Ferguson's players. They had left the away dressing room for their warm-up with their Premiership rivals 2-1 down. They returned to prepare for kick-off with scenes on the television of a famous Chelsea triumph. The challenge was to match the reigning champions.

Given the position his new club find themselves in, and the nature of the opposition, Curbishley could have been forgiven for taking the safe option, abandoning 4-4-2 and bolstering his midfield with an extra man. Perhaps it was all the talk that suffuses this club about playing in a certain attacking style that persuaded him to play with two strikers ­ his adventurousness was certainly rewarded.

That meant no place for Carlos Tevez, an unused substitute, who was given a smattering of applause when he warmed up despite an unforgivable dig at Pardew in yesterday's newspapers. West Ham had only Jonathan Spector from outside the British Isles in their first XI, and it was their performance that, among other things, showed exactly what a strong legacy Pardew had left.

They had the first half's best chance, a bullish bit of forward play by Bobby Zamora, who went shoulder to shoulder with Rio Ferdinand and knocked the centre-half to the ground. It was a reminder of how the West Ham striker had humbled Sol Campbell at Highbury last season, for Ferdinand it was acutely embarrassing. He was saved the worst, however, when Zamora's limp shot went straight at Van der Sar.

On 75 minutes, Teddy Sheringham, applauded on as a substitute by both sets of fans, slipped the ball through Nemanja Vidic's legs to Marlon Harewood at the near post. Once again Rio Ferdinand failed to make a meaningful challenge on the striker and, as he reached the byline, Harewood was able to cut the ball back into the path of Reo-Coker, who only had to roll the ball home from close range.

Before then, Robert Green had saved well from Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs had shot over from close range but Ferguson's side were never close to overwhelming West Ham with the amount of chances they created. Unlike Chelsea, there was no hint that a spectacular equaliser might be a possibility. It was certainly frantic in the closing stages but the away side's final few assaults were hardly coherent. The momentum is with Chelsea, the pressure on Manchester United. They only have themselves to blame.

Goal: Reo-Coker (75) 1-0.

West Ham United (4-4-2): Green; Spector, Ferdinand, Collins, Konchesky; Bowyer, Reo-Coker, Mullins (Benayoun, 70), Etherington (McCartney, 77); Harewood, Zamora (Sheringham, 59). Substitutes not used: Carroll (gk), Tevez.

Manchester United (4-4-2): Van der Sar; Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Heinze (Park, 87); Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick (O'Shea, 83), Giggs (Solskjaer 72); Saha, Rooney. Substitutes not used: Kuszczak (gk), Silvestre.

Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).

Booked: West Ham Reo-Coker, Ferdinand; Manchester United Heinze, Vidic.

Man of the match: Reo-Coker.

Attendance: 34,966 .

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