West Ham player ratings vs Sheffield United: New lease of life for Danny Ings but off-day for Kurt Zouma

Hammers denied victory at the death but changed role for striker Ings paid dividends in Yorkshire
Kurt Zouma struggled at Bramall Lane
Getty Images
Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_21 January 2024

Oli McBurnie's last-gasp penalty denied West Ham victory over Sheffield United in a chaotic finale at Bramall Lane.

Maxwel Cornet had opened the scoring with his long-awaited first Hammers goal, but Ben Brereton Diaz hit back to level before half-time on his Blades debut.

James Ward-Prowse's spot-kick appeared to have won it 11 minutes from time but McBurnie's own effort deep into stoppage time earn Chris Wilder's men a 2-2 draw.

Here's how David Moyes's side rated at Bramall Lane...

Alphonse Areola 5

Made a fine save to keep out Osula header, but rebound was thrashed in by Brereton Diaz. Gave away the harshest of last-gasp penalties.

Vladimir Coufal 5

Quick thinking with a throw-in made chance for Ings, then a cut-back found the same player in build-up to opener. Sent off late on for two quick-fire yellows, though.

Konstantinos Mavropanos 5

In need of a good display after error in midweek but rarely looked comfortable. Passing was poor.

Kurt Zouma 5

Caught under Auston Trusty's looping header in lead up to home side's leveller. Looked a touch ragged.

Emerson 6

Clever pass played Bowen in early on. A little more stifled than usual and on the end of Rhian Brewster's red card tackle late on.

James-Ward-Prowse 7

Couldn't quite get to loose ball ahead of Brereton Diaz, but made amends by smashing home penalty. Booked.

Tomas Soucek 6

Good in his own box, with aerial presence handy as Blades looked to take advantage of windy conditions with series of long-throws.

Pablo Fornals 6

Slightly more effective after switching flanks but so indecisive in key areas. Pass which fizzed into Ings to win penalty was much more like it.

Danny Ings 8

West Ham's best player by a mile. Tried in a deeper role, playing off Bowen and was much more involved. Assist was fortuitous, but good work had already made fine Bowen chance. Brilliant turn won spot-kick.

Maxwel Cornet 6

Handed a first league start of the season and at last broke his Hammers duck with first goal since signing in summer of 2022. Still extremely wasteful, though.

Jarrod Bowen 6

Back from ankle problem ahead of schedule to lead the line. Dragged decent opening wide early on.

Substitutes

Ben Johnson (Cornet 70') 6

Sent on in an unfamiliar central midfield role but always gives his running.

Divin Mubama (Ings 90') N/A

Lukasz Fabiański (Areola 90') N/A

Unused: Cresswell, Ogbonna, Casey, Scarles, Orford, Marshall.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in