Harry Maguire Manchester United 2019-20Getty Images

Man Utd defence on worst run away from home since 2002 after defeat at West Ham

Manchester United have failed to keep a clean sheet in 11 consecutive away games after losing 2-0 at West Ham - the club's worst such streak since a run of 14 matches between April and December 2002.

Charged with steadying the ship and rebuilding the team since Jose Mourinho departed last season, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took his side to London Stadium to face West Ham on Sunday with hopes of keeping up momentum after 1-0 wins over Leicester City and Astana.

A laboured performance from the off did not bode well for the visitors, however, and they were made to pay just before the stroke of half-time when Andriy Yarmolenko got on the end of a pass from Felipe Anderson to put the Hammers in the lead.

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In doing so, United have now conceded in 11 straight away matches – a run so bad that you have to go back 17 years to find a worse set of back-to-back results on the road.

Indeed, of the so-called 'big six' in the Premier League, United match Arsenal at the bottom of the rankings with just nine clean sheets since the beginning of the 2018-19 season. For perspective, Manchester City sit top with 32, while Liverpool are one spot behind with 22.

The record-breaking addition of former Leicester centre-half Harry Maguire over the summer has gone some way to providing a porous back line with some much-needed leadership, but it would appear that the Old Trafford side need more than just a new face to return to the defensively solid days of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

West Ham, meanwhile, can take heart that their own rebuild seems to be going in the right direction, with new signing Sebastian Haller involved as last year's additions Anderson and Yarmolenko linked up to provide the opening goal.

In fact, Anderson has now been directly involved in 15 Premier League goals for the Irons since the beginning of last term, with nine goals and six assists – more than any other West Ham player in that time period.

To compound a miserable day for United, they lost Marcus Rashford to injury before Aaron Cresswell scored a stunning free-kick to wrap up the 2-0 victory for West Ham.

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