With neither side having much at stake, the match at Old Trafford was more about pride than anything else. United had hoped for a strong start, but instead, it was West Ham who struck first.
Tomas Soucek found the back of the net with a close-range finish, capitalizing on a well-timed assist from Mohamed Kudus to cap off a slick team move. ..Continue Reading
The home side struggled to regain control, with Hojlund squandering a golden opportunity to equalize moments later.
Slipping at the crucial moment, he sent the ball soaring over the crossbar, leading to a frustrated reaction from Ruben Amorim on the sidelines.
Hojlund’s difficulties persisted throughout the first half, ultimately prompting one of his teammates to lose patience.
Just before the whistle, Shaw couldn’t hold back and shouted at the Danish forward after another misstep, urging, “Ras, come on!”
It’s been a challenging season for Hojlund, who has only managed four league goals since the campaign began, leaving doubts about whether he’s capable of leading the line for a club of United’s stature.
His disappointing performance against West Ham comes shortly after he publicly vowed to step up, acknowledging that his recent form has been far from acceptable.
“I know what this football club is all about,” he said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but that’s why I’m here. I want to show myself on the biggest stage.
“There have been hard times. When I go without a goal in a lot of games, I wouldn’t say I lose self-belief, but you’re going to be a bit more down and a bit more frustrated, but then it’s about going back to the basics.
“[I need to] focus on what I can and try to improve myself, try to talk with my teammates [about] getting [into] better positions, these sort of things, but when you ride a rough spell, when you come out the other end, that absolutely makes you better.”
Reflecting on the season as a whole, Hojlund said: “We’re very happy about being in the [Europa League] final, but it can’t take away the focus from the entire season. Domestically it has not been good enough.
“Then again, we play to win trophies and we are in a good position to win a European one. I think we’ve been improving in the last few weeks, even though the results in the Premier League have not been overly good, just in Europe.”
