MAN UTD 1, WEST HAM 0
Marcus Rashford scored a landmark 100th goal for Manchester United, the matchwinner against West Ham.
The striker, who celebrates his 25th birthday tomorrow, produced an eye-catching display in front of watching England manager Gareth Southgate.
And as pundit Chris Waddle, the former England player, declared it had secured his plane ticket to Qatar.
Rashford, the first United player to reach 100 goals since Wayne Rooney in 2009, has hit a rich vein of form as this was his seventh goal of the season.
Luke Shaw must also have impressed Southgate who would also have kept a watch on Harry Maguire who made his first start since August 13.
Rashford was named man of the match in the dying minutes and before the heroics of goalkeeper David De Gea to ensure he kept a fifth consecutive clean sheet at Old Trafford.
As the Hammers, now without a in in their last 15 league visits to Old Trafford, staged a late onslaught in search of an equaliser, De Gea three times pulled off amazing saves to deny Michail Antonio, Kurk Zouma and Declan Rice in the third of three added minutes at the death.
The wins cements United’s hold on fifth place and, if they win their game in hand, they will move into the top four Champions League places, an incredible turnabout in their fortunes after the disastrous defeats to Brighton and Brentford in their opening two games.
United manager Erik ten Hag said: “In this team, there is a big attitude and winning spirit. You saw at the start of the season it was not that good, but it is improving a lot. We have to keep that process going.
“The fans also like it. You see developing a bond between the fans and the team, that is good.
“There is still a lot of improvement if we want to compete for the top four. There are still a lot of negatives in our game, and we have to work on them.”
Ten Hag was delighted for Rashford saying he is already a great player, but there is still room for improvement.
“I say don’t be satisfied. It is about how many trophies you win,” he said.
“His heading has improved, something we have worked on and mentally he is more consistent and reliable.
“He is already a great player, but there is still room for improvement. I am sure he will have a fantastic career.”
Embed from Getty ImagesDe Gea said: “It’s a great win for us. If we want to achieve and be in the top places, we have to win games like this today.
“Of the two saves, probably the header from Zouma was the best because it was almost certainly going in, but I am happy for all of them. Happy to make the saves and it’s a massive win.
“We are pressing well and recovering the ball well high up the pitch. We conceded some chances at the end, but West Ham are a great team. I’m really happy to be honest.
“We had a difficult start to the season, Manchester United is a massive club and we are getting better. We can keep more clean sheets, play well and keep going until the end.
“I don’t like to think too far into the future, we will just take it day by day. Big game on Thursday and we want to finish top of the group. We will go for another game, more energy and keep going again.”
Hammers’ manager David Moyes explained it was a “compliment” when they people say they are coming to Old Trafford expecting to win as not long ago they were being tipped as “relegation fodder”.
“If you look through the game, we have been really close. We deserved to come away with something. I don’t think we could have done much more, apart from the missing final ingredient,” he said.
“David De Gea made two saves which were fantastic. He has not been Manchester United’s number one for the length of time he has been, if he is not a fantastic keeper.”
Moyes added the Hammers have played Chelsea, United and Liverpool away and given each a good game without getting a positive result.
Maguire came in for the injured Raphael Varane and Ronaldo made his first league start since October 16. Meanwhile, winger Antony was ruled out through injury and Victor Lindelof was absent through illness.
There were four changes from the game against FC Sheriff with Rashford, Shaw and Anthony Elanga also starting.
The Hammers made one change to the side that beat Bournemouth in their last Premier League game as Craig Dawson came in for Ben Johnson who dropped to the bench.
United made a bright start in which they carved out some decent chance.
Shaw put Elanga clear down the middle, but he dragged his shot wide.
Ronaldo’s 30-yard drive forced a diving save from Lukasz Fabianski before Marcus Rashford had two openings in quick succession, the second of which was saved by Fabianski on the goalline.
As United failed to take their openings, they became increasingly frustrated with their play decidedly disjointed.
But that was replaced by unbridled joy as United made a 38th minute breakthrough.
Diogo Dalot’s throw in found Christian Eriksen who played a return pass with Bruno Fernandes before floating a delightful cross to the far post for Rashford to plant a firm header from six yards into the roof of the net.
United made their first change after an hour as Elanga made way for Scott McTominay.
Ronaldo was having a frustrating afternoon as he squandered three chances in quick succession, heading well off target, blazing over and then having a shot deflected for a corner.
The Hammers became more of a threat in the last 20 minutes, no doubt influencing ten Hag’s decision to sacrifice Eriksen for the more solid Fred in central midfield.
Hammers’ substitute Antonio force an athletic save from De Gea to turn over his drive from 30 yards.
Kurt Zouma stayed upfield from the resulting corner and his header from Aaron Cresswell’s cross brought an amazing save from De Gea to claw the ball to safety as he looked set to score.
Fred had the chance to seal victory with four minutes left when his header from McTominay’s cross hit the upright.
The Hammers had two great chances to snatch a draw in stoppage time as United were desperately holding on.
Jarrod Bowen’s shot from Pablo Fornals’ cross looked to have goal written over it until Maguire manage a block without knowing too much about it.
Then Rice’s drive from 30 yards was arrowing towards the top corner until De Gea somehow managed to keep out the shot as there was a palpable sign of relief at the final whistle.