Article body analysed

⚽️ Premier League updates from the 8. 15pm GMT kick-off

⚽️ Live scores | Tables | Follow us on Bluesky | Email Scott So what has that done to the Premier League table? West Ham nudge a little closer to Nottingham Forest – and Tottenham Hotspur – at the bottom. Manchester United meanwhile spurn the chance to move into third place at Aston Villa’s expense, but they’re a little step closer to their end-of-season goal after snatching a share of the spoils. The run-in promises to be a world of wonder at both ends of the table! Neither set of players look particularly happy right now. But when it all comes down, they’ll both take something positive from the game. West Ham earn a point from a difficult fixture, and more importantly that’s another marvellously staunch performance from a team that looked relegation-bound not so long ago. There’s still a long battle ahead, but this should give them succour. Manchester United meanwhile snatch a point they just about deserved on balance, even if they didn’t play particularly well by their own recent Carrickian standards. That might prove crucial in the race for the Champions League. The only real loser tonight is poor Frank Ilett’s neck, doomed to carry the weight of that 500-day helmet o’hair for a while longer. Our commiserations, best wishes, thoughts, prayers, etc. West Ham would have taken that at the start of play. But they’re sickened now. Benjamin Sesko with another stunning late intervention to save the day for Manchester United! 90 min +7: Manchester United, sniffing blood in the Fergie-era style, search for a winner. Diallo drives down the right. His low cross is intercepted by Magassa, who clears just in time with white shirts lurking. What a finish that was by Sesko. What a finish to the game! Mbeumo crosses from the right. Sesko facing the ball and level with the edge of the six-yard box, flipper-flicks a first-time shot into the top right to deny the hosts! What an outrageous finish! 90 min +5: Scarles powers down the left and releases Wilson down the middle with a long pass. Wilson is one on one with Lammens … who blocks the shot! But the flag goes up for offside anyway. And then … 90 min +4: Manchester United are this close to equalising! Bruno Fernandes teases a cross in from the right. Zirkzee, level with the right-hand post and 12 yards out, steers a clever header across Hermansen and surely into the bottom left … but the ball bounces inches wide! Thousands of sharp intakes of breath tinkle around the stadium. 90 min +3: … nowt happens. The tension at the London Stadium crackles! 90 min +2: Nothing comes of the corner. Manchester United hit it long. West Ham intercept again, and this time it’s Magassa piling upfield, down the inside-left channel. He passes infield for Traore, who enters the box … only to be denied by that man Yoro, who once again blocks out for a corner. From which … 90 min +1: Wilson snaffles a loose ball with Manchester United on attack, and bombs down the right. He steams all the way into the Manchester United box. He’s only got Magassa in the middle, so goes on his own instead. Yoro blocks his shot out for a corner. 90 min: There will be seven additional minutes. 89 min: Another West Ham double change, as Bowen and Summerville make way for Walker-Peters and the new signing from Fulham, Adama Traore. 88 min: Mbeumo cuts in from the left and curls towards the top left. Soucek deflects the shot out for a corner. That looked vital, because it wasn’t clear that Hermansen was getting to the initial effort. Nothing comes of the corner. 87 min: Diallo sells Magassa a dummy down the left to buy himself time to cross … then blooters a dreadful cross over everyone’s head. 85 min: Lammens plays out from the back, putting Martinez in trouble with a hospital pass. Bowen slides in, sniffing an opportunity, but Martinez drops a shoulder to swivel away from danger with nanoseconds to spare. Lammens owes Martinez a large gourd of mate. 84 min: Bruno Fernandes plays a cute line-breaking pass down the middle towards Sesko … who takes a heavy touch, allowing Mateus Fernandes to nip in and start a counter. West Ham’s Fernandes draws a foul from Mainoo, and the clock ticks on in West Ham’s favour. 82 min: Zirkzee comes on for Dalot, Michael Carrick going for broke in attack. Casemiro battles down the inside-left channel, but eventually runs the ball out of play under pressure from Magassa. 81 min: Scarles crosses from the left. Wan-Bissake from the right. Summerville from the left. Manchester United can’t get out. But they’re helped when the whistle goes, Soucek high-kicking in the environs of Shaw’s head. 80 min: West Ham make a double change. Potts and Diouf are replaced by Scarles and Magassa. 79 min: Dalot crosses from the right. Casemiro wins a header at the far stick, but can’t direct the ball goalwards. And turns out he was offside anyway. 77 min: Shaw crosses from the left. He loops a cutback to Mbeumo, who flaps a weak header wide right. West Ham keeping the visitors at arm’s length. For now. A reminder that West Ham haven’t kept a clean sheet at home all season. 76 min: Sesko spins on the right-hand edge of the West Ham D and fizzes a low shot straight at Hermansen. Comfortable for the keeper, who hasn’t had too much to do in this second half. He didn’t have a great deal to do in the first. 75 min: Bowen dribbles hard down the right and reaches the byline, but his attempted cross is blocked well by Martinez, who saunters off with the ball. The tension at the London Stadium is palpable. 74 min: Casemiro tries to feed a cross in from the right, but Disasi hooks clear. West Ham continue to hold that shape. 72 min: Sesko crosses from the left. The ball pings off Disasi, then back off Sesko, and out for a goal kick. It’s not happening for Manchester United up front. Not right now. But there’s time. On the touchline, Michael Carrick exudes calm. No panic. Not convinced a certain Mr Ilett will be feeling quite as zen. 71 min: Diallo powers in from the right and goes over upon reaching the box. Diouf is on his shoulder, but there was little to no contact, and the referee isn’t interested in awarding the penalty Diallo wants. 70 min: Mateus Fernandes is booked for the content of a chat with the referee. There was absolutely nothing going on, so what pointless nonsense. 69 min: … and so West Ham respond by swapping Castellanos for Wilson. 68 min: Manchester United make a double change, replacing Maguire and Cunha with Yoro and Sesko … 67 min: Both teams suddenly look a little skittish, with so much at stake at both ends of the Premier League table. 65 min: Casemiro’s kneecap was offside. Nowt else. West Ham go up the other end, Bowen winning a corner, then sending it into the mixer. Mbeumo wallops clear. This game is on a knife-edge. 64 min: Casemiro, on the left-hand edge of the West Ham D, was an inch or two ahead of Wan-Bissaka. Not much in that, and it was a fine cross met by a wonderful measured header, but offside is offside. 63 min: Mainoo, quarterbacking from deep on the right, curls powerfully across for Casemiro, who meets the ball rushing in from the left. He steers a glorious header across Hermansen and into the right-hand side of the net. But Casemiro doesn’t really celebrate, and VAR is going to check. 62 min: Bruno Fernandes can’t beat the first man with his free kick. That’s uncharacteristically awful. West Ham half clear. But then Manchester United come again … 61 min: Bowen skittles Mainoo 35 yards from the West Ham goal. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box, awaiting Bruno Fernandes’ delivery. Maguire wins a header, but not particularly convincingly and the hosts clear. But Maguire comes again down the right, where Castellanos clips the makeshift winger. Another free kick coming up. 59 min: Potts accidentally catches Bruno Fernandes on the back of the ear as the pair contest a high ball. Time for Manchester United to catch their collective breath as their captain slowly picks himself back up. They need a quick reboot. 58 min: Mateus Fernandes slaps a dismal flat free kick into the first man Diallo. Manchester United breathe again. What a waste from a West Ham point of view. 57 min: Summerville turns on the jets on the other flank, and draws a clumsy lunge from Dalot, who quite rightly goes into the book. A free kick just to the left of the Manchester United box. West Ham fill the area. 56 min: Wan-Bissaka and Bowen take turns to scoot down the right flank. Bruno Fernandes is left in the dust by the former; Shaw only just keeps up with the latter. West Ham are getting plenty of joy down this side of the park. 54 min: Mainoo’s persistence on the edge of the West Ham box causes panic in the host defence. The ball’s shifted right to Bruno Fernandes, whose cross is only half cleared. Dalot shoots. Blocked. Manchester United are beginning to formulate a response to going behind. 53 min: Diouf lifts a pass down the left for Summerville to chase. For a second, it looks like Summerville is away from Dalot, but the Manchester United full-back fights back. He blocks the route to goal, so Summerville can’t shoot. Summerville checks back, at which point the flag pops up. That’s the correct decision … but there wasn’t too much in it. Manchester United playing a dangerous game there. 51 min: That was a lovely goal from West Ham’s perspective. Not so much from Manchester United’s. None of Shaw, Martinez or Mainoo covered themselves in glory. West Ham launch it down the middle. Shaw dithers, lets the long ball bounce, and loses a duel with Bowen, who lays off to Soucek. Soucek dinks the ball back to Bowen on the right. Bowen crosses low. Soucek, who had kept going, nips in between Martinez and Mainoo and pokes through the legs of Lammens! 48 min: Castellanos nearly steals the ball off a snoozing Maguire’s toe … but the big defender rouses himself just in time to spin around, guard it, and roll it back for Lammens to clear. Castellanos hasn’t had many touches this evening, but he has bothered Maguire on a couple of occasions. 47 min: … and now Mainoo advances down the left, but his cross is easily plucked from the sky by Hermansen, who was under no pressure whatsoever. No Manchester United player anywhere near him. But the visitors have started the second period with renewed vigour. 46 min: Manchester United are immediately on the front foot, and Diallo has the opportunity to release Dalot into acres down the right … only to fail to spot the pass. West Ham get the second half started. No changes. Half-time entertainment. Courtesy of hirsute Manchester United fan Frank Ilett Uncle Peter’s Band. Or in the parlance of x G: West Ham United 0. 05-0. 23 Manchester United. 45 min 01 sec: The whistle goes. 45 min: There is going to be no additional time. Even the officials are fed up. 44 min: Bruno Fernandes loops one in from the left. Disasi deflects into the arms of Hermansen. 43 min: “This is a poor game, ” writes Tim Stappard, the entirety of the first email for a good while. To be fair, there’s been very little else to say. 42 min: The fans get a bit louder with some action at both ends. First up Maguire cynically checks Castellanos on the edge of the Manchester United box, as the striker tries to intercept a poor Dalot backpass. He was never getting to the ball, but Maguire was taking a chance there. The referee waves play on, and on the counter, Diallo slashes a speculative shot into the side netting from the left. 40 min: Mainoo tries to get something going with a sashay down the middle, but the moment he gets near the West Ham D, Potts arrives to block and dispossess. The crowd, so boisterous at kick-off, are pretty quiet right now. 38 min: Cunha prepares to take a whack from the edge of the West Ham box. Potts closes him down. The ball ends up bouncing apologetically out of play for a goal kick.