Manchester United 2-1 West Ham United: 5 Men who won the game for Solskjaer

#1 Paul Pogba

Manchester United v West Ham United - Premier League

The Frenchman did not have his best of games and perhaps his positioning was one of the contributing causes. Pogba started as a deep-lying midfielder against West Ham, with Solskjaer opting for Mata in the No. 10 role. In truth, the Norwegian wanted to use Pogba’s presence in the deep to buck up his midfield in absence of Matic and Herrera. And the Frenchman was pretty good in that role.

Pogba started the game slowly, taking time to adjust to the new responsibility. However, he was soon spraying the ball from deep, switching play and initiating counters. He put in a shift too, tracking ball, bullying the West Ham midfield and dominating play. He had a restrained outing but still continued to pick up his forward players with ease. And when United needed him to step up, he did so in style.

To score two goals in a single game is tough enough but to score twice from the spot is perhaps one of the hardest things to do. And that was exactly what Pogba did against West Ham. When Mata won the first penalty, up stepped the Frenchman.

He sent Fabianski the wrong way and gave United the lead. After West Ham equalized, United won another penalty late in the second half, thanks to Martial. Up stepped Pogba again. This time, Fabianski guessed right but there was too much power on the ball for the West Ham goalie.