West Ham Under 23’s came from 2-0 down to Manchester United to win 3-2 in the Premier League 2 game thanks to a Mipo Odubeko hat trick.
And after weeks of being stranded at the rock bottom – and several points adrift of the teams immediately above them – it was enough to lift them into second bottom with a more than fighting chance of remaining in Premier League 2 Division 2.
They have now remained unbeaten in their last four games with two draws and two victories.
After a goalless first half, the Red Devils out fighting in the second scored two goals in the first ten minutes.
The Hammers fightback came just four minutes after Manchester United’s second goal when Longelo wins the ball high, Odubeko shapes to pass but – from about 25 yards – instead laces it low, right the way across Bishop’s dive and in via the inside of the post.
The equaliser came on 72 minutes when skipper Conor Coventry steps popped it over the top for Odubeko, who is running away from goal as he takes it on his chest, he turns, goes inside his man and, from the corner of the penalty box, curls an arcing finish right into the top corner!
The winner came late in added time when Mipo turned inside the area, fires a shot with his low foot… it gets deflected but creeps into the bottom corner to make it 3-2 which lifts them off the bottom of the table.
Far better than Yarmo and Bowen as a 9, get him into the team before we lose him. He left Man United to play first team football, needs to play him – he is a quality finisher, an out and out 9. He could save us millions in the transfer market if he is given the chance. I was also impressed by some other performances in the 23’s. the left back Longello and the right sided player Corbett. I also believe Coventry needs to be brought into the squad. Noble is a liability and if Moyes continues to refuse to see this it will cost us big time. Noble completely ran out of puff the other night and the team suffered as a result with Wolves getting back into the game. Moyes plays him for the full 90 mins !!!!! If he continues to ignore Fornals who is the obvious replacement for Rice then Coventry needs to be brought into the squad. Congrats to the U23s on an excellent performance last night. Moyes I hope you are brave now to bring in some of these into the first team squad especially with injuries to Rice and Antonio.
Good at u23 level. Maybe not Good enough for premier league just yet. What Mipo needs is a loan next season to the championship and then let’s see what he’s made of playing against grown men in a competitive league. Hopefully Moyes is not stupid enough to play him in place of Antonio when he’s not ready for the level of football. It would probably just destroy his confidence and make it hard for him to break in in future.