Jarrod Bowen causes Manchester United pain with latest winner for West Ham | first division

There are some Sunday afternoons when national sport focuses on Manchester United's latest capitulation under Erik ten Hag. On this occasion, however, United's inability to capitalize on their opportunities and sustain a performance was only part of the story. The other, unfortunately for Ten Hag, centered on the cold, interfering hand of a video assistant referee who intervened with the advice that ended with the penalty awarded to West Ham that gave Julen Lopetegui a baffling but precious 2-2 win. 1.

Good luck to anyone trying to draw definitive conclusions from this mess. West Ham were terrible before Lopetegui impressively took decisive action at half-time, a triple substitution that tipped the contest in his team's favour, but they still needed an all-powerful hand from the referees to claim the points. It looked like little more than a bond when Matthijs de Ligt and Danny Ings challenged a bouncing ball in the United box in the final minutes. There wasn't much appeal from the home fans and there wasn't much complaint from West Ham when David Coote, the on-field referee, decided there wasn't enough contact to explode.

However, it wasn't long before Michael Oliver, one of the game's main referees, arrived from Stockley Park to tell Coote to check the pitchside monitor. Disbelief gripped United at the technological advance, because they knew what was coming. De Ligt pleaded his case, insisting that Ings had gone on the attack, but the result was inevitable and Jarrod Bowen, the West Ham captain, kept his cool from the spot to hand Ten Hag a third successive defeat in this corner of eastern England. London.

These marginal decisions are not the reason VAR was introduced. They warp games, although it must also be acknowledged that United could have ensured they were not vulnerable to the whims of a referee. There were some glaring errors from Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Rasmus Højlund and Diogo Dalot at 0-0 and it also didn't reflect well on Ten Hag that his team couldn't respond to West Ham's improvement in the second half.

In the end, United are 14th for a reason. They faded when West Ham finally prevailed, Aaron Wan-Bissaka's bursts down the right flank were a constant feature, and it was no surprise when Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring with his first goal in a blue and burgundy shirt. “We deserved to win the second half,” Lopetegui said.

The Spaniard got it right and was delighted that West Ham's lead did not fall after Casemiro headed in the equalizer with 10 minutes remaining. For Lopetegui, this has to be a turning point. West Ham were quick and aggressive after waking up, with Michail Antonio intimidating the United centre-backs, Edson Álvarez, Guido Rodríguez and Tomas Soucek dominating the midfield and Summerville, a surprise omission from the starting XI, superb after his introduction.

Not that Ten Hag was wrong to insist that it should have been different. At the start, West Ham seemed caught between two stools, their focus neither on taking the initiative nor breaking the pace. Carlos Soler was an odd selection over Summerville with Mohammed Kudus suspended and there was rarely much pressure on United's build-up play.

That's how Casemiro and Christian Eriksen like it, nice and calm, and the chances followed. Garnacho, a lively if erratic presence on the left, hit the crossbar and shot wide in the first eight minutes.

The Argentine had space thanks to Wan-Bissaka sliding inside to operate as an inverted full-back and United continued to create. Lukasz Fabianski, who replaced Alphonse Areola after the win against Tottenham, rejected Højlund and Casemiro. Fernandes headed in and Marcus Rashford hesitated as he crossed the goal. Álvarez almost scored an own goal.

United continued to press, some of their passing sequences caught the eye, and the opener looked certain when Dalot rounded Fabianski after latching on to Fernandes' pass. Perhaps, however, defeat was inevitable after the right-back shot high and wide of the huge net.

West Ham couldn't continue playing so badly. Lopetegui reacted, Summerville, Soucek and Jean-Clair Todibo came on for Lucas Páqueta, Soler and the injured Konstantinos Mavrapanos, and the mood changed. Wan-Bissaka began to overwhelm Noussair Mazraoui. Emerson Palmieri missed a babysitter.

United were agitated, Rashford weak before making way for Amad Diallo, and they were punished. Garnacho lost possession, Rodríguez intervened and Bowen lunged forward. The winger found Ings, who had just come on, and Summerville deflected his shot to the far post.

West Ham took the lead with their first shot on goal. It was a mistake. United were level when Diallo recycled a set piece. Dalot and Joshua Zirkzee, who came on as a substitute, headed in for Casemiro to score the goal that seemed to give Ten Hag a break, until Oliver took over.