9th February, 2019
Confident Manchester United moved into the Premier League’s top four with a dominant 3-0 win over struggling Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Anthony Martial was in sensational form, making the first for Paul Pogba and scoring a wonderful second as United secured their 10th victory in 11 games under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Pogba wrapped up the points in the second half when he stroked home from the penalty spot after Juan Mata was fouled in the area.
Despite fielding a much-changed defence, they were rarely troubled by a Fulham team who have now conceded 58 goals this season and remain firmly entrenched in the relegation zone.
According to PDP, United on the other hand have moved above Chelsea on 51 points with their recent stunning form pushing them into the hunt for an end-of-season Champions League spot.
Pogba’s resurgence under Solskjaer has been well documented and his performance at Craven Cottage epitomised the way he has played under the Norwegian.
Two more goals took his season’s tally to 13 – seven of them have been scored in nine Premier League games under Solskjaer – and he completely ran the game for Manchester United.
With just 13 minutes on the clock, he latched onto Martial’s through ball and from a tight angle smashed the ball high into the top corner of Sergio Rico’s net.
He continued to stroll around the pitch with the swagger and skill expected of a £89m World Cup winner, dovetailing neatly with Martial to strengthen the case that he is the best midfielder in the Premier League at the moment.
And after Mata was clumsily pulled down by Maxime Le Marchand on 64 minutes, Pogba picked up the ball and coolly slotted the penalty into the bottom right corner.
With the game won, Solskjaer withdrew his star man to protect him for big tests coming up, not least Paris St-Germain in the Champions League last 16 at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.