Winston Reid scores winner in thrilling Upton Park finale despite Anthony Martial's double Read more

t was the grand old send-off the place deserved. A storming game, a storming finish and the very real prospect that West Ham will start the next chapter of their existence with bona fide European football to take to the Olympic Stadium in August.

Dimitri Payet whipped in the free-kick and Winston Reid’s header simply overpowered David de Gea. He got both hands to the ball, but it was not enough. It crossed the line as if by sheer will.

Believers will say it was something spiritual, something more; or something Moore. The reconstruction of the club’s greatest player turning out the lights at the end of Upton Park’s closing ceremony was not the only reminder of his presence on Tuesday night. There is the Bobby Moore Stand, a huge image of him adorns one corner and, of course, in his day, West Ham’s record against Manchester United wasn’t half bad. They often used to give them a game. A game like Tuesday night’s in fact.

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