Pair of Paul Pogba penalties helps Man Utd scrape past West Ham

Posted Sunday, April 14, 2019 by PA

Paul Pogba’s brace bailed out Manchester United as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side stuttered to a fortuitous 2-1 win against West Ham.

Tuesday’s huge Champions League quarter-final challenge in Barcelona looms large, but attention first turned to securing a return to European football’s top table next season.

United moved within two points of the top four as a pair of Pogba penalties sealed victory at Old Trafford, but those in attendance will know how fortunate Solskjaer’s side were to have secured a point, never mind three.

Felipe Anderson saw an early opener wrongly ruled out for offside, but the Brazilian cancelled out Pogba’s contentiously-awarded penalty shortly after half-time as the Hammers capitalised on David De Gea’s poor throw.

The United goalkeeper made amends as Manuel Pellegrini’s men pushed for a winner, producing an outstanding one-handed save from Michail Antonio shortly after the West Ham substitute rattled the goalframe.

Yet the visitors returned to the capital empty-handed after Pogba smashed home his second spot-kick to keep up United’s top-four charge on an evening when the performance will have alarmed Solskjaer.