Manchester United defeated Brentford without impressing.
Marcus Rashford, like so many times before, was the decisive factor when he scored the only goal of the game.
The 25-year-old thus continues to be one of Europe’s hottest strikers right now.
After the 1-0 victory, United are fourth in the Premier League table – on the same points as third-placed Newcastle.
Erik ten Hag’s men have thus established a solid grip on a direct place in the Champions League next season.
– We played very good football today, especially in the first half. In others, it was more of a struggle. It’s not easy against a very good Brentford, United coach Erik ten Hag told the BBC after the match.
Extended target streak
The decider came in the 27th minute after Marcus Rashford lingered in the penalty area on a corner. Eventually the ball was played to Austrian Marcel Sabitzer, who beautifully headed the ball down to a free-kick Rashford – who in turn put the ball safely into the net.
– Once again he is at his best and in very good shape. Hopefully he can continue with it until the end of the season, says Erik ten Hag about his goalscoring streak.
After the lead goal, Brentford never managed to shake the home team and David De Gea in United’s goal was able to record a new clean sheet.
Victor Nilsson Lindelöf had to jump into the match in the 86th minute.
Hottest in Europe
Rashford’s goal didn’t just give United the win.
It was also his eleventh goal since the World Cup break last winter – which makes him one of Europe’s hottest players. Only Napoli’s Victor Osimhen has scored more goals (twelve) during the same period.
In total, the English national team striker has now scored 15 league goals during the PL season and is a strong contributor to the fact that United are still very much in the fight for the top four places.
– Now we are in that period of the season where every game is important and every game counts, so we are very happy to win and hopefully we can get back to the level we had a few weeks ago, Marcus Rashford told the BBC.
Next time Manchester United play is on Saturday, when they face Everton.
