Avram Grant: West Ham made it ‘too easy’ for Manchester United to mount second half comeback

EPL : Avram Grant West Ham – Tottenham (Getty Images)

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By Wayne Veysey at Upton Park

Avram Grant admitted that his West Ham United players had made it “too easy” for Manchester United to stage a brilliant second-half comeback at Upton Park.

Grant’s side took a 2-0 first-half lead after Mark Noble scored a brace of penalties but United dominated the second period to win 4-2 and end the match in complete control.

“It was too easy for them to control the game,” said Grant in his post-match press conference.

“In the second half they had nothing to lose, put Ryan Giggs at left-back and sent a lot of quality players forward. But we have given them too much space.

“There were a lot of positive things. We wanted to win and did everything very good in the first half. But footballers need to complete two halves.”

West Ham have dropped back into the bottom three but Grant is confident his team can avoid relegation.

“The league will be very tight but I think we can do it because we have come into good shape at the right time,” said the Israeli.

“Against Manchester United you want to take points but you do not count on winning against them. The players know that we will not win Premier League survival until the end of the season. We are still on a good momentum.”

Grant refused to be drawn on the two main controversies of the match, United’s penalty at 2-2 and the crucial moment just before the break when last defender Nemanja Vidic hauled down Demba Ba just outside the box and received a red rather than yellow card.

Asked whether Vidic should have been sent off, he replied: “I think so but I don’t want to talk about the referee.”

Grant claimed he “didn’t see” the penalty conceded by his team but admitted “the players were very disappointed” at the award by referee Lee Mason.