Divine Mukasa started the fightback as West Ham came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Cardiff, and the Manchester City loanee was the best player on the pitch in the second half.
It was Scott Parker’s first game in charge of the Hammers on Wednesday night, and it could hardly have started worse. Jack Moylan scored a first-half hat-trick for Cardiff, and West Ham went in at the break three goals down.
What followed was a completely different game. Mukasa pulled one back just before the hour, Arne Engels added a second and Max Kilman’s late equaliser rescued a point.
How did Mukasa start the comeback?
With a lovely piece of skill. The 19-year-old burst through the middle, plucked a long pass from Jarrod Bowen out of the air and chipped the ball over Nathan Trott to make it 3-1.
It was his fourth goal of the season in his 12th league appearance, and the rest of his night was just as tidy. Mukasa completed 56 passes, more than any other player on the pitch, created three chances, which only one player bettered, won the ball back three times and did not lose a single dribble.
That is the kind of all-round display City want from a young playmaker on loan in the Championship. He is not just turning up in the box; he is running the game.
Is the Man City loanee now a regular at West Ham?
It certainly looks that way. Mukasa has two goals and an assist in his four starts over the last month, and he has kept his place through a change of manager, which says plenty about how highly he is rated at West Ham.
His numbers stand out across the division too. He averages 0.65 shots on target, 2.38 accurate long balls, 0.54 successful dribbles and 1.84 touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes, which puts him among the best-performing midfielders in the Championship on all four counts.
Parker admitted he had little time to shape the side. “I came in here at nine o’clock this morning and met the players for the first time, so I didn’t have a lot of input as such,” he told BBC Radio London. “The biggest positive is the team we saw in the second half.” Mukasa was a big part of that team.
What it means for Man City
Mukasa has been tipped for big things at the Etihad for a while. He made his senior debut only days after his 18th birthday last year, and he set up a goal in the Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield.
Pep Guardiola was glowing that night. “Divine played unbelievably, he’s an incredibly top player in the pockets, in the striker [position], has a good sense. Divine is top, top. He has a sense of touch, quality with the ball, and he fought a lot. He played really good!” he said.
A season of regular senior football is exactly what that kind of talent needs. City have other academy players pushing for a look, with Ryan McAidoo answering his Leipzig snub in the Youth League this week, but Mukasa is the one proving it week in, week out against grown men. Like Claudio Echeverri at Benfica, he has found a loan that suits him.
Verdict: Divine Mukasa is earning his Man City chance
We like what we are seeing. A teenager who can take a game by the scruff of the neck when his side are 3-0 down, on a new manager’s first night, is showing more than talent. He is showing nerve.
The Championship is a tough school, and Mukasa is passing it. If he keeps this up through the winter, Maresca will have a very good reason to take a close look at him in pre-season.
