- By Ewan Harkness at Bramall Lane
West Ham boss annoyed at his team's performance as they drew 2-2 away to Sheffield United
By Ewan Harkness at Bramall Lane
West Ham United were denied three points on the road at Bramall Lane, after substitute Ollie McBurnie tucked away a last minute penalty, to make it 2-2 and grab a vital point for The Blades.
The penalty was the latest goal in Premier League history, in the 103rd minute, marking a chaos packed extra-time for the ages where both sides went down to 10 men.
Hear what David Moyes had to say:
When asked about the late penalty claim on Jarrod Bowen, which Joe Cole described as ‘a six nations tackle’, Moyes said: “We’re sort of settling for a level of officiating where we’re all sort of shrugging our shoulders. You make your own judgement, I’m not trying to get fined today.”
David Moyes told Capital Football, “[I'm] disappointed that we didn’t win the game in the end, lost two points in the end and they would’ve been a big two points for us playing against an improving Sheffield United.
“My team's performance was so poor today, maybe my worst. Certainly as the game went on we got a bit better, but I’m more disappointed with my own players' performance than everyone else.
“Good performances lead to good results. We had to find a way to scrap and get a result, and we couldn’t.”
The Capital Football Man of The Match was Premier League veteran Danny Ings, who picked up his first start in two months and played a major role in both of the goals, winning a penalty and his deflection causing the second goal. Speaking on Ings Moyes told Capital Football:
“He’s worked hard, and he deserved the reception he got when he went off. He’s had to be patient because Antonio has been brilliant, and Bowen can play in that role now. He needed a couple of goals; he had a couple of big chances in the second half.”
The Match:
The game started lively, when Ings robbed the ball and played through Bowen, who decided to go on his own and dragged the ball wide, much to the frustration of Maxwell Cornet who was in acres of space at the back post.
The majority of the first half, The Blades looked to be controlling the game, having most of the possession and chances. Andre Brooks injected some energy into The Blades crowd in the 21st minute, as the academy graduate nutmegged Vladimir Coufal, but his strike was comfortably saved by Areola. Minutes later a corner saw Trusty found free in the centre of the box, and Areola was grateful to see the ball come straight to him, after what was a massive chance.
However, against the run of play West Ham’s fast counter attack saw Ings’ deflected strike fall to Cornet, who slotted the ball home with ease to put the visitors ahead.
Just on the edge of half time, Areola again showed his class making a fantastic reflex save, but it wasn’t enough to stop Ben Brereton DIaz thundering the ball home on the rebound to score on his Premier League debut.
And The Blades had the first big chance of the second half too. James McAtee’s inch perfect through ball carved The Hammers’ defence in half in the 57th minute to put Brereton-DIaz one on one with Areola. But the Chilean failed to double his goal tally with a poor effort wide of the post. The Blades fans still gave a standing ovation for the Villlareal loanee as he came off in the 67th minute.
After losing his man in the box with some technical dribbling, Ings won the visitors a penalty, after being taken down by Gustavo Harmer. Set piece specialist James Ward Prose rifled the ball down the middle of the net, putting The Hammers back in charge with 10 minutes left to play.
The pressure kept coming from the East Londoners, with Bowen cutting in from the right and bending the ball narrowly over the top left hand corner.
And bad went to worse for Sheffield United in extra time, as freshly substituted Rhian Brewster saw red, after he recklessly lunged into a challenge on Emerson. However just minutes later Vladimir Coufal picked up a second yellow card and was sent off.
All looked lost for The Blades, until in extra-time Areola bundled into Oliver McBurnie in the box as they both competed for a high ball, and the referee pointed to the spot. Areola picked up an injury in the process, with Lukas Fabianski coming on for
The whole ground held their breath, but McBurnie was the coolest man in the stadium, slotting the ball home to grab a point from despair.
Man of The Match: Danny Ings
