On this occasion, though, United's inability to take their chances and sustain a performance was only one part of the story. The other centred around the cold, interfering hand of a video assistant referee stepping in with the advice that ended with West Ham being awarded the penalty that brought Julen Lopetegui a baffling but precious 2-1 win.
Good luck to anyone trying to draw definitive conclusions from this mess. West Ham were awful before Lopetegui took decisive action at half-time, a triple substitution tilting the contest in his side's favour, but they still needed a helping hand from the officials to claim the points. It had looked little more than a coming together when Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings challenged for a bouncing ball in United's area in the dying stages. There was not much of an appeal from the home crowd and there were not many complaints from West Ham when David Coote, the on-pitch referee, decided there was insufficient contact to blow up.
This story is from the October 28, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the October 28, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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