Bowen the hero as West Ham snatch victory over Man Utd
Having struggled to score goals all season – and blanking on their last two visits to the London Stadium – the visitors were straight onto the front foot here as they looked to put that right.
And they were inches away from doing so inside two minutes when Alejandro Garnacho rattled the crossbar, with the Argentinian firing off-target again inside the opening 10 minutes on his 100th senior start for the club.
Chances kept on coming for the Red Devils, with Rasmus Højlund denied by the returning
Łukasz Fabiański before Bruno Fernandes – who had never previously scored in 12 appearances against West Ham – headed over from Casemiro’s cross.
Diogo Dalot missed the best chance of the first half, rounding Fabiański and inexplicably firing high and wide with an open goal at his mercy, while the 39-year-old goalkeeper’s only negative moment came when he flapped at a Christian Eriksen corner, directing the delivery against his own crossbar.
Julen Lopetegui’s men managed just one shot before the break, and the Spaniard’s displeasure was clear as he made a triple change at the break.
The second half was a far more tepid affair with the hosts’ changes bringing them a modicum of control, though opposing number nine’s Michail Antonio and Højlund both had presentable chances from the edge of the area to make a breakthrough.
One of West Ham’s substitutes eventually made the breakthrough as Crysencio Summerville opened his account for his new club.
A quick Hammers move saw Bowen’s cutback find Danny Ings, with the striker’s shot heading way wide before Summerville intervened to turn it home.
Erik ten Hag’s men needed a response, and some sloppy West Ham defending provided them a route back into the contest.
The hosts squandered several chances to clear a set piece and appeared to pay the ultimate price when Joshua Zirkzee nodded down for Casemiro to head home from point-blank range.
With the game finely poised, controversy would follow as Matthijs De Ligt was penalised for a trip on Danny Ings, despite the forward appearing to handle the ball in the build-up.
A lengthy VAR review sealed the visitors' fate, with Bowen converting the subsequent spot-kick to seal West Ham’s first set of back-to-back home league wins since December.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Casemiro (Manchester United)
