I really don't know what to say about that game. It seemed to have everything, yet nothing, IYKWIM.
United were heading into this game on the back of a good (and important) win over Brentford last time out in the PL and needed to keep the momentum going.
However, after a decent point in Turkey on Thursday night, we came back to the Premier League with a bang.
Unfortunately, this bang resembled Hiroshima more than anything else.
Erik ten Hag's side started off pretty well (which is the opposite to their usual slow starts) and had a great opportunity in the first few minutes as Garnacho was set up beautifully by Bruno only for the 20-year-old to hit the bar when he should've scored.
That was a sign of things to come. And how.
United continued their dominance over their hosts and made more chances. Garnacho again with another but put his effort on the wrong side of the post when he should've at least hit the target.
Captain Bruno - who was back in the side after missing the Fenerbahce draw through suspension - decided to get on this wastefulness act.
He had a free header from a few yards out but put it over the bar.
That should've been 2-0.
And if those misses weren't bad enough, Dalot said 'hold my beer.'
After a ball over the top from the magnifico to get in behind West Ham again, it was his Portuguese counterpart who was the man making the run.
Dalot nicked the ball passed the on rushing Fabianski and had an open goal ahead of him.
Honestly, I believe he thought he'd scored before he actually did.
He ended up having the miss of the season as he put that shot over the bar when it looked harder to miss than to score.
From that point on, I think we all believed that we were going to lose. I feel as though even West Ham thought that this was their day. That's just how these games go, don't they?
West Ham helped us out by being utterly shite in that first half and we all knew that they couldn't be as bad in the second.
They weren't as Julen Lopetegui made three changes to shake things up at halftime. That certainly made a difference as the home side came out the better of the two and started to dominate.
They began creating some decent openings and if not for a cross that was slightly behind Emerson, they would've taken the lead. That just increased their confidence and they grew into the game even more.
This isn't something unusual we see with United with the only surprise being a mirrored version of what they usually do. More often than not, we start games slowly and play well in the second half (if we do at all). This time we were slow in the second period which allowed the Hammers to grab a foothold in the game.
ten Hag then took Rashford off for Amad to try and make some sort of an impact.
And then, the inevitable.
A poor giveaway by Garnacho on the halfway line saw West Ham take the ball down the right before poor defending saw a cross that wasn't cut out make it's way to Summerville at the back post for a tap-in. Dalot sleeping to allow the substitute an easy finish.
A day to forget for our right-back who was actually playing in his preferred position, which makes things worse.
The drama wasn't over as ten Hag made another change, one that was a bold move. He takes Eriksen off for Zirkzee who played as the supporting striker to Hojlund for the final 20 minutes.
That proved to be a good call as after a ball to the back post by Amad, Dalot heads it back across to Zirkzee whose header was then headed in by Casemiro to draw us level. Three headers in a row get us back in the game.
The belief returns.
But then, VAR took that belief away.
I don't want to spend too much time on this.
That wasn't a penalty, I'm not sure why VAR got involved in the first place (although it was Michael Oliver so we shouldn't be surprised), don't know why the on-field referee David Coote (more like David Knob) had to change his original call despite needing several looks at the 'foul', and it hits Ings' hand before the contact by De Ligt. It's a call that made no sense.
Although with it being United who always seem to have some shit hit the fan, it perhaps made perfect sense.
Jarrod Bowen converts the spot kick and that's that.
That penalty decision really knocked the stuffing out of us despite the 12 minutes of injury time being added on as until that call, if there was a team who looked like they would win it, it was United.
Erik ten Hag got nothing wrong in this match and wasn't his fault as to what happened. It's strange to say that as he is almost always involved in some negative way.
He picked probably his best starting XI he could, the tactics worked in the first half and his changes were good. The only thing to perhaps mark him down is for his team not coming out in the second half and continuing to play the way they did in the first.
But for atrocious finishing, United win that game comfortably and we praise him and the team for the performance and result.
ten Hag will be the man to take all the flack but for this one game, deserves none.
I don't know what more he could've done tbh.
Ratings
Onana - 6.5
Dalot - 0
De Ligt - 6.5
Martinez - 6.5
Mazraoui - 6.5
Casemiro - 7 MOTM
Eriksen - 6.5
Rashford - 5.5
Bruno - 4
Garnacho - 6
Hojlund - 5.5
Amad - 5.5
Zirkzee - 7
Lindelof - 6
Erik ten Hag - 7
Final Thoughts
This was a worse version of Crystal Palace. We played in the same way and the game went in the same manner. We should've won that game in the first half just as in this and out of the two matches, we picked up just 1 point.
This is perhaps the most confused I've ever felt about United in my life.
We're just all over the place as we're not entirely crap although we can be; we're not amazing although we have those moments; we're not a side devoid of quality because we have more than enough players with quality; and yet, I don't know what we are.
Where to from here is the question.
Background Image: Erik ten Hag during Man Utd's 2-1 defeat against West Ham | Image credit: Getty Images Sport via Goal