United bounce back with a win over West Ham

It is fair to say that Manchester United's trip to Switzerland was far from ideal. The 2-1 loss to Young Boys and the circumstances surrounding the defeat left a sour taste in the mouths of all involved and a bounce back victory was the only thing that could improve the mood once again.

They travelled to the London Stadium to take on David Moyes' West Ham in search of that comeback win, which they got after an incredible finish to the game. Christiano Ronaldo’s equalizer after a Said Benrhama openerfor the Hammers was followed by a late Jesse Lingard strike and a rare David De Gea penalty save saw Manchester United pick their third League win in a row to remain joint top in the league standings. They once again had to come from behind to win away from home, extending their unbeaten record on the road to 29 games.

It was an important yet unimpressive win. One which has been commonplace with United for the past 18 months. Looking at the numbers post-match, United certainly did enough over the the 90 minutes to win. They amassed 1.96 xG from 10 shots on target as well as 60% possession during the match. The win was not convincing, but it wasn't uncomfortable either. United had three penalty shouts rejected by referee Martin Atkinson before having a penalty (correctly) awarded against them late on which was saved.

United are just good enough to win football matches and their individual quality will play an even bigger role in securing wins for United than the team's structure should.

I've got my job and we do our job, you tend to in the media get judged by behaviours and outcomes rather than intentions. It's black and white. But we go into the game with good intentions, we make changes with good intentions, go into a tackle and make a pass with good intentions. The outcome always decides which headline we’ll see and very very rarely is the game fantastic or really really bad, it just hovers about good or not good enough.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's comments in the pre-match press conference before the game tells you all you need to know concerning that subject.

As a result of the lack of structure and dependency on individual influence, average performances are going to be commonplace but the difference now for United is the game-winning quality on the bench compared to last season.

At least, the “good intentions” behind Ole’s substitutions paid off as Jesse Lingard subbed on for a tired Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic came on as a passing alternative to Fred from deeper positions late in the game. Both substitutes were directly involved in the game winner.

Jesse Lingard isn't a new signing by any means but by this time last season, he was frozen out of the team and his future at the club looked bleak. His loan move to West Ham revitalized his career and his appreciation was shown not in the goal he scored but in his subdued celebration. He was not an option for the team at all last season but has come in this year and looks like he will be a key option in the first team.

Nemanja Matic on the other hand, was brought in for his passing ability and calmness in midfield which was lacked since the substitution of Pogba. His pass to Lingard took four West Ham players out of the game, leaving his teammate to do the rest emphatically. His age and stamina have come into question in recent seasons but Matic still remains United’s best passing option from deep besides Pogba.

United face West Ham in their next fixture which is the League cup and you would expect Ole to make changes. Regardless of the number of changes made, the team to face the Hammers will still be a strong attacking one with Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Jadon Sancho will expect to start this midweek. The latter is yet to make an impression but his chemistry with teammates is improving and soon the end product will follow.

While the squad continues to grow from strength to strength, maybe there will come a time begin to provide satisfactory performances that with winning games more often. For now though, we should be content with “just good enough”.