Manchester United 1-1 West Ham: A Hard Earn Hammers Point

West Ham United garnered a hard earned point, drawing 1-1 with Manchester United at Old Trafford Sunday evening.

Thanks to a terrific performance by goalkeeper Darren Randolph and midfield star Dimitri Payet, the Hammers avoided deja vu after the heartbreak to Tottenham last week. They scored the opening goal for the third straight match, as Payet’s latest great set piece delivery found the head of Diafra Sakho for a third minute goal.

The perfect start for West Ham did not last for too long, as United leveled though in the 22nd minute when James Collins switched off at the wrong time and allowed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to easily finish off a fine aerial pass from Paul Pogba.

Slaven Bilic's side held firm despite not having Winston Reid, and had chances on their end to score a match winner with Payet, Mark Noble and substitute Ashley Fletcher showing class in the latter stages of the match.

It was a vital result for the Hammers, now half way done a murderer's row stretch that has a home match against Arsenal next week before battling Liverpool the following week. Having the squad get healthier has been a major factor in that, with Sakho continuing his comeback for injury with his headed tally.

The team's performance justified Bilic's belief that they could get a result in the middle of a difficult stretch and forgettable opening third of the season.

Manager Slaven Bilic knows this 4-match hell stretch is tough. But he is confident that his side can get a result at Man United #MUNWHU pic.twitter.com/FxSDvsBqEP

— Brace The Hammer (@BraceTheHammer) November 27, 2016

And indeed, they did just so.