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EPL PIX: Man United seal late win; West Ham-Bournemouth draw

February 02, 2024 10:04 IST

Images from the Premier League matches played on Thursday

IMAGE: Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Hojlund, Willy Kambwala and Marcus Rashford celebrate after their win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford scored the opening goal and Kobbie Mainoo netted a superb late winner as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 in a thrilling Premier League game at Molineux on Thursday.

 

Left out of United's 4-2 Cup win over Newport County on Sunday by manager Erik ten Hag, Rashford rattled home the opening goal after five minutes against Wolves and helped Luke Shaw tee up Rasmus Hojlund for the second in the 22nd minute.

United should have had a hatful of goals in a dominant first-half display, and Hojlund and Casmeiro had efforts ruled out for offside, but the game roared into life midway through the second half when the home side were awarded a penalty.

Video replays showed there was little contact as Pedro Neto went down under a challenge from Casemiro, who had been booked in the third minute, but after a VAR review the decision to award the spot kick was confirmed and substitute Pablo Sarabia stepped up to score in the 71st minute.

Scott McTominay struck shortly after coming off the bench to restore the visitors' two-goal cushion in the 75th minute but the home side weren't done and when Max Kilman reduced the deficit in the 85th minute, it set the scene for a thrilling climax.

Neto levelled in stoppage time with a superb effort, but Mainoo topped that by curling the ball into the net in the 97th minute to snatch a win that moved United up to seventh in the table on 35 points. Wolves are 11th on 29.

"It is a dream come true," Mainoo told broadcaster TNT after netting his first Premier League goal.

"It is a tough place to come. We had to get the win. I have still not come down from it, I still feel like I'm dreaming, to be honest. To start playing in the Premier League for my boyhood club has been amazing. Now it's about trying to win more games."

United captain Bruno Fernandes praised the 18-year-old Mainoo for his cool finish in the cauldron atmosphere.

"He is a big talent. I have seen him play for the Under-18s and I said a couple of years ago the name of Kobbie without knowing if he would come and play for the first team," he told TNT.

A relieved Erik ten Hag called it a "massive" win for his side.

"I think we played very good and we dictated the game for an hour. We should have gone up 3-0 or 4-0. We didn't and in the end it's quite naive, the way we concede the goals," he said.

"It shouldn't happen, but then we showed great resilience, especially Kobbie Mainoo, it was a great goal," the Dutchman added.

West Ham fight back to draw with Bournemouth after Phillips debut blunder

IMAGE: AFC Bournemouth's Adam Smith and West Ham United's Mohammed Kudus vie for possession during their match at London Stadium, London. Photograph: Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters

West Ham United debutant Kalvin Phillips gifted Bournemouth an early goal before the Hammers fought back to earn a 1-1 Premier League draw at the London Stadium on Thursday.

England midfielder Phillips, on loan from Manchester City, underhit an attempted backpass inside three minutes to give Dominic Solanke a tap-in for his 13th goal of the campaign.

West Ham manager David Moyes said Phillips was fine after the match and attributed the error to a lack of game time.

"As the game went on tonight, he was starting to get a bit better, starting to find his feet a little bit more, I thought he was just slow at the start of the game," Moyes told reporters.

West Ham could have been two down but for a strong hand by Alphonse Areola to deny Antoine Semenyo, before Tomas Soucek spurned a good chance and headed over just before the break.

The hosts improved in the second half and equalised after 61 minutes through a James Ward-Prowse penalty, eventually awarded by VAR for Lloyd Kelly's foul on Mohammed Kudus.

Phillips was replaced by striker Danny Ings as West Ham pushed for a win and created half-chances, though Bournemouth constantly carried a threat on the break.

The sides had to settle for a point each, however, and Bournemouth manager Adoni Iraola was happy enough.

"There's a part where you have to value the point because we know it's not easy to come to this stadium and get a result, but it's true that, I think, if any of the teams deserved to win today it was Bournemouth," he said.

Moyes also declared himself content with the result.

"I'm happy with a point, I'm not happy with the performance generally," he said.

West Ham remained sixth in the table on 36 points and Bournemouth moved up to 12th place on 26.

Source: REUTERS
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