On This Day: Irons bid farewell to Boleyn Ground in style

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The Hammers gave the Boleyn Ground the perfect send off with a 3-2 victory over Manchester United on 10 May 2016.

Winston Reid scored a dramatic late winner to make it a fairytale ending for West Ham in the final ever game to be played at the stadium.

Diafra Sakho got the Hammers off to the best possible start with the opening goal after just ten minutes, but United threatened to ruin the celebrations as they raced into a 2-1 lead with two goals from Anthony Martial.

But the West Ham players refused to lie down and Michail Antonio brought the home side level before Reid stole all the headlines with a close-range header.

It was always going to be an emotional night as the fans walked through the turnstiles for the final time.

The Hammers had been playing at the Boleyn Ground for 112 years and the famous old stadium is steeped with magical moments throughout the decades.

From the great Bobby Moore, to the legendary Billy Bonds and Sir Trevor Brooking, the West Ham fans have seen some of the greatest players in the Club's history produce their best football in the East End of London.

From the moment West Ham captain Mark Noble led his players onto the pitch, you could sense the incredible atmosphere around the ground.

The final rendition of Bubbles being played before kick-off inspired the whole crowd and it seemed to inspire the players as they dominated the opening 45 minutes.

The Hammers could have opened the scoring after just two minutes when the ball dropped down nicely for Manuel Lanzini but his overhead kick flew just over the bar.

Then the Boleyn Ground erupted when Sakho fired the home side into the lead on ten minutes.

Aaron Cresswell released Lanzini down the left hand side and he played the ball back to Sakho who made no mistake striking the ball past David De Gea into the corner of the net.

It was just the start that Slaven Bilić would have been looking for and the perfect way to start the final ever game.

Diafra Sakho celebrates scoring in the Final Game

The Hammers continued to mount pressure on the United goal and could have added a second on 19 minutes when Antonio's cross fell to Andy Carroll who chested the ball down for Dimitri Payet and he fired a low shot straight at De Gea.

Carroll then had a golden chance to double the home side's lead on 20 minutes after he broke the offside trap and was clean through on goal but his shot was saved by the legs of De Gea.

Antonio thought he had got on the scoresheet 60 seconds later after Mark Noble's deflected cross was flicked over the line by the Hammers winger but his effort was ruled out after the ball was adjudged to have gone out of play.

It was all one-way traffic and there was another big chance for the home side on 32 minutes when Noble burst clear into the United half and played the perfect pass into Payet but the ball bounced up at just the wrong time and the Frenchman struck his shot wide of the post.

But United made West Ham pay for those missed opportunities when they grabbed an equaliser on 51 minutes.

De Gea's long goal kick picked out Juan Mata who released Martial and the United forward fired the ball past Darren Randolph.

Carroll saw his header cleared off the line by Martial on 68 minutes but it was United who threatened to spoil the party as they added a second on 73 minutes.

Marcus Rashford played the ball through to his strike partner Martial whose cross-shot completely caught out Randolph and the ball flew into the corner of the net for his second of the game.

Bilić's side showed on a number of occasions that they were never beaten and this proved to be the case once again as they drew level on 77 minutes.

Payet's cross fell perfectly for Antonio and he directed a close-range header past De Gea into the roof of the net.

On a night of so many emotions there was to be one final twist in the storyline as Payet turned provider once again.

The Frenchman crossed the ball in for Reid who rose above Daley Blind to head the ball past De Gea. The United keeper got a hand to the ball but it was not enough to stop it crossing the line.

Cue the wild celebrations around the Boleyn Ground and it proved to be the perfect send off as it helped the Hammers secure all three points on a night that will never be forgotten.

 

Luton