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WATCH: Pogba handball almost costs United top 4 place

Manchester United's quest for a Champions League place will go to the final day of the Premier Leagu...


WATCH: Pogba handball almost c...

Sport

WATCH: Pogba handball almost costs United top 4 place


Manchester United's quest for a Champions League place will go to the final day of the Premier League season. 

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side played out a 1-1 draw with West Ham at Old Trafford.

A point for the Hammers means they will go into Sunday with worries of relegation expunged from the mind.

The biggest question mark surrounding the game was answered an hour before kick-off when David de Gea was named in the United starting XI.

The Spanish goalkeeper did not have a repeat of his Wembley horror show at the weekend, and did well to keep out a Jarrod Bowen effort just after the hour mark.

It was his opposite number Lukasz Fabianski that was tested first, but he comfortably dealt with an Anthony Martial shot in the early going.

However, it was first half injury time before the deadlock was finally broken.

A West Ham free-kick routine saw the ball played to Declan Rice who drilled a shot goalward.

It was met by the hands of Paul Pogba, whose block cost his side a penalty which was converted by Michail Antonio.

"The last ten-to-fifteen minutes of the first-half it became a bit frantic," was Solskjaer's assessment.

"I think we didn't control it enough, we kept giving them chances to counter-attack or giving daft fouls away".

Solskjaer claims to have not seen the penalty incident, even if the "ball was destined for the corner-flag".

United did follow their manager's instruction which was to "win the second half".

Some nice interplay between Martial and Mason Greenwood on the edge of the West Ham box just six-minutes after the restart resulted in the teenager firing past Fabianski to level the game.

United's efforts to find a winner were stifled by their apparent lack of fitness.

Solskjaer admitted afterwards that their schedule has not helped in that regard, "We've not been dealt the best of hands with the recovery times in the last couple of weeks because we were in the FA Cup, but that's how it is.

"We've got three days now [to prepare for Leicester], that's a massive difference between two days in-between and three days in-between.

"That extra day for Sunday will get us 100 per cent fresh."

Despite needing just a point from their game at Leicester on Sunday to secure a Champions League place, Solskjaer insists they'll prepare to win the game.



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Champions League Leicester City Manchester United Premier League West Ham

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