Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus continued their impressive goalscoring form as West Ham United beat Manchester United 2-0 to leapfrog their visitors and climb into the top six.
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Bowen struck his 11th Premier League goal of the season in the 72th minute, moving joint-second in the top goalscorers’ chart alongside Mohamed Salah, just three goals behind Erling Haaland.
Six minutes later Kudus netted for the third time in two top-flight matches, and 10th time in all competitions since joining the Hammers in the summer.
Lucas Paqueta played a key role in Bowen’s strike with a brilliant through-ball, and then set up Kudus’s goal to take his tally to four assists in his last two Premier League outings.
By contrast, Man Utd had another frustrating day in attack and have now failed to score in their last four matches in all competitions. They will spend Christmas outside the top six for only the second time in 33 years.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
35 | +22 | 56 |
| 7 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
35 | +11 | 54 |
| 8 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
35 | -3 | 54 |
| 9 |
West Ham
WHU
|
36 | -14 | 49 |
How the match unfolded
Erik ten Hag picked a youthful Man Utd side, with five of his outfield players being academy graduates, including 19-year-old centre-back Willy Kambwala, who made his debut.
West Ham made a strong start and Emerson Palmieri tested Andre Onana with an early shot.
Man Utd grew into the match and had the best chance of the first half as Antony played in Alejandro Garnacho, who shot tamely at Alphonse Areola at the near post.
But West Ham got back on top after the break and James Ward-Prowse’s corner was met by Bowen, whose powerful header was tipped over by Onana.
West Ham broke the deadlock with a moment of magic from Paqueta, who chipped a glorious through-ball behind the defence into the path of Bowen, whose initial shot was saved but rebounded kindly to him and gifted him a simple finish.
Minutes later a mistake by Kobbie Mainoo in the midfield led to West Ham doubling their lead. The 18-year-old miscontrolled the ball, and Kudus took Paqueta’s pass in his stride before firing a right-footed shot into the bottom corner.
West Ham climb to sixth on 30 points, while Man Utd slip to eighth on 28 points.
Next five Premier League fixtures
Key facts
-Manchester United have failed to score in four successive games in all competitions for the first time since November 1992, while it’s just the third time they’ve failed to score in three successive Premier League away games after April 2005 and August 2022.
-West Ham have recorded successive Premier League wins over Manchester United for just the second time, following a run of three wins between December 2006 and December 2007.
-For the first time since September 2012 (run of four), West Ham have won at least three home games in all competitions without conceding.
-Manchester United have failed to win three successive Premier League away games under Erik ten Hag for the second time (D1 L2), previously doing so in May last season. Indeed, they’ve now failed to score in as many league games this season as they did in 2022-23 (7).
