West Ham 3 Manchester United 1 watch highlights: Jose Mourinho’s side in crisis after dismal defeat to the Hammers
Mourinho's position as manager starting to be questioned by fans as Manuel Pellegrini's side inflict heavy defeat which sees United's season hit a new low
MARK NOBLE inspired West Ham to a stunning victory that cranked up the pressure on Jose Mourinho.
United boss Mourinho needed a fine performance from his team after their Carabao Cup humiliation by Derby on Tuesday and his latest bust-up with Paul Pogba.
But Hammers skipper Noble played a part in Felipe Anderson’s opener and Marko Arnautovic’s third - either side Andriy Yarmolenko’s deflected strike just before half-time - to help his club record only their second-ever home win over United since the Premier League was formed in 1992.
The home fans in a bumper 56,000-plus crowd at the London Stadium taunted Mourinho at the end with chants of: “You’re getting sacked in the morning.”
And if the Red Devils continue to play like this it will surely not be long before the Special One is shown the door at Old Trafford.
Mourinho left Alexis Sanchez out of his matchday squad, but started Pogba after his training ground row with the manager.
But the whinging France midfielder put on another abysmal display in a United shirt before he was subbed in the 70th minute.
Mourinho made four changes to his side that drew at Wolves last weekend, as Ashley Young, Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial recalled.
McTominay played on the right of defence in a 3-5-2 but was at sixes and sevens in the sixth minute when he failed to step up with his team-mates, making it difficult for the assistant referee to judge
whether Pablo Zabaleta was offside as the Hammers right-back crossed for Anderson to open the scoring with an audacious close-range flick beyond David de Gea.
It was the Brazilian’s first goal for the Irons since signing from Lazio for a club record £36m in the summer - and no more than Manuel Pellegrini’s deserved as they came haring out of the traps, leaving United for dust.
Mourinho cut an increasingly frustrated figure in the technical area as he stood at the edge of his technical area, greeting every mis-placed United pass or shot with a throw of the arms to the skies.
Romelu Lukaku headed Ashley Young’s cross against a post in the 22nd minute as United came into the game.
But that was about their only effort on goal in a first half in which they were completely overwhelmed by the hosts.
When the visitors did manage to get into the final third they could not find a way past West Ham centre-backs Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena.
As the half drew to a close, Diop should have added a second from Anderson corner but he completely fluffed his header.
But Yarmolenko made amends by putting the Hammers 2-0 up in the 43rd minute with a shot deflected in off United defender Victor Lindelof after Mourinho’s men had again failed to clear an Anderson corner.
The Red Devils total ineptitude was summed up by a Young’s woeful 50th minute corner which was played straight to the feet of Hammers skipper Mark Noble outside the box and almost resulted in Marko Arnautovic almost making it 3-0.
Mourinho replaced Lindelof with Marcus Rashford in the 57th minute and Marouane Fellaini’s header from Young’s cross was brilliantly saved by West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Rashford did reduce the arrears with a sublime flick from Luke Shaw’s 71st minute corner, immediately after Pogba and Martial had been subbed for Fred and Juan Mata.
But any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed as Arnautovic slotted past De Gea after a brilliant through ball by Noble.
This sealed West Ham's first top flight home win over the Red Devils since they beat them 3-2 in the last ever game at Upton Park in 2016 and had many United fans heading towards the exit long before the final whistle.
They had started the match by taunting the home fans with chants of: “You’re not West Ham anymore.”
Well, Mourinho’s men currently look nothing like United.