West Ham United 0 Manchester United 0
There have been many fantastic football matches in this season’s Premier League but last night’s goalless draw between West Ham and Manchester United at the London Stadium wasn’t one of them.
Had it not been for the bust-up between Paul Pogba and Mark Noble three minutes from time there would have been precious little to talk about in the post-match press conference. But the fact that Noble grabbed the face of the United midfielder after an intentional trip created a moment of drama in an otherwise tedious evening.
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As Noble and Pogba grappled, other players joined the fray, including West Ham striker Andy Carroll and Man Utd defender Luke Shaw. The Sun predicts they could “get in bother with the FA as ref Jon Moss did not punish them on the night”.
Why Moss didn’t send Noble off for clawing at Pogba’s face is anyone’s guess, although perhaps the official’s judgement had been impaired by the mind-numbingly awful football he’d endured.
United manager Jose Mourinho thought the referee got it right on the night, telling reporters: “It was handled well. I was watching the images and Paul and Noble looked in love. Hugs and kisses and changing shirts at full-time. It was good.”
Which is more than one can say for the quality of the football in east London. With the Hammers having ensured their Premier League survival last week, and United with little to play for other than the glory of finishing second behind runaway leaders Manchester City, there was scant motivation for the pair.
As it was, the point was all United required to make sure they would finish above Tottenham, the only club capable of catching them before last night. But with City 19 points ahead of United there was no sense of elation at the final whistle from the Red Devils.
“OK,” replied Mourinho, when asked what it felt like to be runners-up. “We don’t celebrate second position but we are happy because for a few months we realised it was impossible to win the league and, of course, the target is the second position.”
On the plus side, with one match still to play, United have nine more points than they accumulated last season. Second spot is the highest they’ve finished since winning the title in 2012-13.
“We are the second best team in the Premier League, a fantastic competition with lots of good teams, with six teams trying to finish first,” said Mourinho. “It’s better to finish second than fourth.”
Premier League fixtures
The final day of the Premier League season is on Sunday. Matches kick off at 3pm.
- Burnley vs. AFC Bournemouth
- Crystal Palace vs. West Bromwich Albion
- Huddersfield Town vs. Arsenal
- Liverpool vs. Brighton & Hove Albion (live on Sky Sports)
- Manchester United vs. Watford
- Newcastle United vs. Chelsea (live on Sky Sports)
- Southampton vs. Manchester City (live on Sky Sports)
- Swansea City vs. Stoke City
- Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leicester City
- West Ham United vs. Everton