West Ham pile on misery for woeful Man United in EPL

LONDON – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag admitted that his side are “underperforming” as they were punished for yet another lacklustre display in their 2-0 English Premier League loss at West Ham United on Dec 23.

The result meant that the Red Devils, who have 28 points, are now winless in three league games – including a

3-0 defeat by Bournemouth

and Dec 17’s

0-0 draw at Liverpool

– without scoring a goal.

In the midst of this wretched run, ten Hag’s men also

lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League,

and have now gone four matches without a victory.

To make matters worse, it is the first time since 1992 that they have failed to find the net in four consecutive fixtures.

On his team’s struggles after

winning the League Cup

and finishing third in the league last season, ten Hag said: “We won a Cup, we played the FA Cup final, we were third in the league. There were highlights but we were overperforming, and in this moment we are underperforming.

“There are reasons for it, we have many injuries, so the team will be better if the injured ones return. We have to be calm, stick together, stick to the plan, we have to do it together.”

On the match, he added: “I think it was a decent 72 minutes where we didn’t take our chances. We should’ve gone in the lead but we didn’t and then it was one moment of switching off.

“Then they got the goal and then of course from that they were very aggressive defending the box and, from that moment, it’s difficult to create a chance.”

For Hammers boss David Moyes, a former United manager, his side’s return of 30 points at this stage in the season was “a brilliant number of points for us”.

Late strikes from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus settled the contest at the London Stadium and piled renewed pressure on the under-fire ten Hag.

It was United’s eighth Premier League loss already this season and they have managed just one win in seven games in all competitions.

It has been a wretched second season for ten Hag, whose team have also

crashed out of the League Cup

besides their elimination from the Champions League.

This pitiful surrender against a team

thrashed 5-1 by Liverpool’s reserves

in the League Cup quarter-finals on Dec 20 essentially underlined the depths United have sunk to.

Apart from their eight league defeats, United have lost 13 games in all competitions this season – their most before Christmas since 1930-31 when they finished bottom of the table.

Arresting their steep decline looks beyond ten Hag at present.

With defenders Diogo Dalot, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane all absent, the 19-year-old Willy Kambwala made his United debut in central defence.

Bereft of rhythm and confidence, ten Hag’s men laboured to establish even a semblance of momentum as they failed to build on that gritty draw at Liverpool.

It took United over half an hour to muster a shot on target via Antony, and Alejandro Garnacho squandered a golden opportunity to break the deadlock with a weak shot.

Marcus Rashford came on for the anonymous Rasmus Hojlund after 57 minutes, extending the Danish striker’s disappointing run in his debut season – although he cannot be blamed for receiving no service.

When Bruno Fernandes sent a wayward shot high into the stands, there were murmurs of discontent among United’s travelling fans.

Lucas Paqueta’s chipped pass then prised open the United defence in the 72nd minute and Bowen made a perfectly timed run to beat the offside trap, before scrambling his shot past Andre Onana for his 11th league goal this term.

United were in disarray and Kudus delivered the knockout blow six minutes later.

Encapsulating their dreadful display, Kobbie Mainoo carelessly conceded possession and Kudus accelerated clear to drill a low strike past Onana to seal the points.

“As an attacker, that’s what I’m here to do, to put the ball in the net,” said Kudus, who played for ten Hag at Ajax Amsterdam.

“But most importantly we’ve got the three points.

“I’m really happy for the fans because this is the last game before Christmas.

“It’s a perfect gift for them, and we wish them happy Christmas. They’re going to enjoy it after this.” AFP