Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot had gone past West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski but was left holding his head in disbelief when he missed an open goal from just a few yards out, unable to break the deadlock at the London Stadium.
The visitors to the capital had dominated the early exchanges and had numerous opportunities to take the lead against Julen Lopetegui’s outfit, but none more clear-cut than Dalot’s horrible miss.
Captain Bruno Fernandes, on his return to the team having been suspended for United’s 1-1 draw to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the Europa League, played Dalot through with a stunning through ball that deserved to have a finished product.
The Portuguese defender had raced through and when Fabianski came to the edge of the box to meet him, flicked the ball around the goalkeeper with such a composure that a simple finish into the back of the net felt inevitable.
But noticing the onrushing Konstantinos Mavropanos desperate to prevent his side from going a goal down in another dismal first-half performance, attempted to lift the ball and avoid his attempted block.
However, Dalot got it all wrong as the ball went high and wide, leaving his team-mates baffled that somehow they were not in the lead.
But Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford all also squandered golden opportunities to break the deadlock in the opening 45 minutes.
The Argentine, retaining his role on the left, hit the crossbar inside the opening two minutes and after being put through by his captain again only moments later – struck his effort wide.
Fernandes himself then latched onto a stunning through ball from Casemiro over the top, but failed to seriously trouble Fabianski in the West Ham goal.
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