06 January 2013

At The Death: West Ham 2 Manchester United 2

Robin van Persie scores the dramatic equalizer at the death
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

Starting Lineups (Courtesy of Soccerway.com)

Goals of the Game
West Ham: Collins (27', 58')
Manchester United: Cleverley (23'), van Persie (90')

Sir Alex Ferguson's side scraped off a drama-filled draw to keep their FA Cup race alive against West Ham United after a moment of brilliance from Ryan Giggs helped Robin van Persie smashed in the equalizing goal at the death.

Manchester United kicked off the first half with an irongrip control on possession, with Paul Scholes dictating the pace for his team. Chances from Welbeck, Hernandez and Smalling almost gave United the lead. West Ham responded with chances of their own. The Hammers' Alou Diarra and Ricardo Vaz Te had their attempts on goal. The game would pick up to the Reds' favor when a counterattack opened Hernandez and Welbeck. The Mexican opted to make a deceitful cross towards the unmarked Tom Cleverley who smashed the ball in from the edge of the box. Sam Allardyce's men responded four minutes later. New signing Joe Cole made a brilliant cross towards James Collins, who only needed to nudge the ball in for the equalizer.

Tom Cleverley opens the scoring with a brilliant goal
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

West Ham's James Collins pulls one back for his side
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

West Ham started the second-half off with urgency as they quickly linked up with their forwards, but the chance went wide. United also had chances from Welbeck and Kagawa, to no avail. West Ham, however, took the lead at the 58th minute. Joe Cole, the man the Hammers bought from Liverpool, made another stunning cross to James Collins, who headed the ball home for the second time in the night. West Ham would then take a tyrannical control of the possession, with the Reds having no chances whatsoever.

Collins replicates his first-half header to give West Ham the lead at Upton Park
Image retrieved from The Daily Mail UK

With time slowly running out, it seemed it wasn't United's day... until the 90th minute, when a first-touch cross from Ryan Giggs was sent towards the in-form Robin van Persie, who emphatically rocketed the ball home to make sure the Reds keep their challenge for the FA Cup title alive.

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