West Ham United 1-2 Manchester United: 5 talking points as De Gea's penalty heroics saves the day for Red Devils | Premier League 2021-22

Manchester United beat West Ham United 1-2 in the Premier League in a riveting encounter.

David de Gea was the hero of the day as he saved a stoppage-time penalty from Mark Noble to deny the Hammers an equalizing goal.

Said Benrahma broke the deadlock after the half-hour mark with a confident strike which took a deflection off Raphael Varane on its way. But just five minutes later Cristiano Ronaldo equalized with a close-range finish.

Having lost the midweek Champions League game to the Young Boys, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were about to go winless again today. But substitute Jesse Lingard whipped home a ferocious shot on his return to the London Stadium.

There was squeaky bumtime in extra-time. Ronaldo's penalty appeal was denied for a second time, while a controversial handball from Luke Shaw gave West Ham a chance from the spot in the 95th minute. But De Gea guessed the right way and kept out Noble, getting Manchester United over the line.

Boy oh boy, what drama!

Here are the major talking points from the match:

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#1 Ronaldo can't (and won't) be stopped

Ronaldo's goalscoring streak for Manchester United continued

Cristiano Ronaldo continued his fairytale return to Manchester United with another goal today. This was his fourth in three games as the Portuguese ace knew no stopping.

He netted twice against Newcastle United on his second debut before a strike in the Champions League on Wednesday. He broke the deadlock for the Red Devils for the third consecutive time with today's effort.

While it was only a tap-in, it brought the visitors level just five minutes after falling behind through a Benrahma goal. It keept the tie on an even keel until the dying moments when Lingard showed up with a fine strike.

Either way, the 36-year-old maintained a 100% record since rejoining Manchester United, having scored in every appearance he's made so far. How long do you reckon this streak is going to run?

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#2 Lingard redeems himself with a sweet volley

Lingard scored his first-ever goal against West Ham, on his first visit to their stadium since leaving the club

Football can be so poetic sometimes.

Manchester United were desperate for a winning goal with just one minute of normal time left on the clock.

And who steps up to the plate? Jesse Lingard, the man who played a key role in helping West Ham finish sixth last season.

What's also funny is that the English international had never scored against them as an opposition player. But he chose the most ideal occasion to break the duck.

The goal was sublime too, taking a few steps forward inside the box before unleashing a ferocious volley into the top-right corner of the net.

Sweet as you like.

#3 Controversial penalty calls mar nerve-wracking contest

Ronaldo had two big penalty appeals turned down

As nail-biting as the contest was, there were a few moments which surely raised eyebrows, and will be discussed in post-match threads.

The first was Ronaldo getting fouled inside the area by Vladimir Coufal, in what looked like a legitimate penalty for Manchester United.

The Czech Republic international clearly obstructed the forward's movements, bringing him down in a clear foul.

A second controversial call involved Ronaldo once again after the Portuguese went down from a challenge by Kurt Zouma in stoppage-time.

On this occasion, referee Martin Atkinson didn't even bother consulting the pitchside monitor and allowed the play to continue.

And finally, there was the Luke Shaw handball. But was that, really?

Replays showed Andriy Yarmolenko's cross came off the Manchester United left-back's arm, but it arguably, wasn't intentional and he was in full motion at the time.

Instances like this have previously been denied a penalty. So why give one today?

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#4 De Gea, the unlikely hero for Manchester United

Manchester United's real 'man of the match'

When the referee pointed to the spot in the 94th minute, it looked as if West Ham had snatched a point at the death. That, despite Ronaldo getting on target again and Lingard smashing home a peach of a strike.

However, David de Gea seized the initiative and denied Mark Noble from 12 yards by guessing the right way, rescuing the match for Manchester United.

The Spaniard has come under heavy fire for his erroneous displays in the recent past. While he's looked alright in goal for quite some time now, today was truly special for him.

The Hammers saw a ray of hope in the penalty but De Gea stepped up to the plate for his side. He stole the aforementioned strike duo's thunder and rightfully took home the plaudits.

Manchester United's real hero of the day!

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#5 Manchester United not at their best yet

Manchester United should've really buried the game long before Lingard's stunner

The Red Devils will heave a huge sigh of relief today and spray champagne all over De Gea for his stoppage-time heroics. But it wasn't a performance to be proud of.

Just days after their shock loss to Young Boys in the Champions League, they were expected to bounce back with a dominant performance.

And while the stats showed the visitors were on the frontfoot for most of the game, creating plenty of chances, the problem was in the finishing.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side lacked the cutting edge to finish off their chances, finding the net only twice from 10 shots on target.

On nine occasions out of ten, the match would've been done and dusted by the hour mark. They were lucky that West Ham, too, faced similar issues at the other end.

There were also the manager's questionable substitutions once again, just four days after his head-scratching in-game changes in the loss to the Young Boys.

He waited for over 70 minutes to make his first change, whilst also bringing on Nemanja Matic instead of Anthony Martial when the side were needing a goal.

The Norwegian will be in the spotlight once again.