A first-half strike from Andriy Yarmolenko and a  fantastic free-kick from Aaron Cresswell secured all three points for West Ham against Manchester United, sending the Hammers to fourth in the table. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side struggled on an overcast afternoon in London, the Red Devils uninspiring in defeat and returning to Manchester with an injury to Marcus Rashford.  

Story of the match

Manchester United enjoyed the majority of the early possession, however the visitors were unable to create a chance of any significance as they were matched across the park, West Ham competing well in front of a sell-out home crowd.

The first significant moment of the game was the yellow card awarded to Angelo Ogbonna after fifteen minutes, the Italian defender with a tactical foul to prevent a promising counter-attack for the away side.

United had a good opportunity to open the scoring just before the 20 minute-mark, however Declan Rice made a great tackle to stop Marcus Rashford as the forward closed in on goal, much to the delight of the home supporters.

After a few early attempts from the Red Devils, West Ham began to grow into the game, Manuel Pellegrini’s side enjoying a good spell of pressure in which Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson both threatened but were unable to trouble David de Gea.

The Hammers attempted to recreate Paul Scholes’ iconic volley from the edge of the area with 35 minutes on the clock, however Mark Noble was unable to properly connect with Anderson’s floated corner and United’s shotstopper gathered the ball easily.

The deadlock was eventually broken just before the interval, the ball falling kindly for Yarmolenko in the box, and the Ukranian winger needed no invitation to slot past De Gea to put his side 1-0 up.

The visitors started brightly after the break, and Juan Mata should have levelled the scoring very early on, however Andreas Pereira's dangerous cross just evaded the Spaniard at the far post.

The hosts responded to Mata's chance with a succession of corners, however they were unable to manage an effort on goal from the set pieces as the visitors defended well. 

The flow at the start of the second half was interrupted by injuries to both Ogbonna and Rashford, the latter unable to recover and he was substituted for Jesse Lingard on the hour-mark as a result. 

West Ham almost doubled their lead following United's change, Anderson going near with a close-range strike after 68 minutes that forced a good save from De Gea. 

Moments later, Harry Maguire must have thought he had equalised, however Fabianski made a fantastic instinctive save to maintain his side's advantage. 

The visitors continued to pile on the pressure with 15 minutes remaining, and the Hammers' number one had to show good agility again as he came off his line to prevent another good opportunity for United. 

However it was West Ham who got the second goal of the game, left-back Cresswell with a beautifully curled free-kick six minutes from time to put West Ham 2-0 up and secure all three points.

Takeaways

Yarmolenko shows class

After an ineffective performance against Aston Villa last time out, Andriy Yarmolenko bounced back with a well-taken goal to help his team to victory.

The Ukranian winger caused problems for Ashley Young throughout the 90 minutes, creating opportunities through good attacking movement and intelligent forward passes.

Injury concerns continue for Solskjaer 

Marcus Rashford became the latest name to join Manchester United's injury list as the English international was substituted after 60 minutes.

Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial were all ruled out for this fixture through injury, and with limited squad depth the Red Devils could struggle. 

West Ham continue good start

With another three points West Ham have continued their impressive start to the season.

Victory against Manchester United sends the Hammers to fourth in the table having lost only one game so far, that being the opening day defeat to Manchester City.

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