ແມນເຊັສເຕີ ຢູໄນເຕັດ ກໍາລັງເລີ່ມສະແດງອາການຂອງກໍາລັງປ້ອງກັນ

After their win away to Brentford during the week, Manchester United strengthened their top four position by beating close rivals West Ham United at Old Trafford.

The game was a frustrating one for Ralf Rangnick’s players who battled for 93 minutes before finally coming up with the match-winning goal thanks to some fantastic combination play between Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford.

West Ham, under David Moyes, showed their defensive resilience throughout, and kept Manchester United at bay. It was a difficult match to impose final third patterns of play and it must be said that the Red Devils were wasteful at times.

Rangnick needed those three points today and it should hopefully act as a turning point of the season for the team, who still remain in the hunt across three different competitions.

What was most impressive perhaps was the defensive unit remaining compact and together throughout the 90 minutes. Harry Maguire came back into the team to partner Raphael Varane, both of whom looked very comfortable and won their individual duels.

Maguire has been under criticism for the past few months regarding his one-on-one defensive abilities and intuition, but today’s performance showed a different side to him. A side that those fans have not seen since before the European Championship last summer with England.

There were two moments in the first half where Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio had Maguire in isolated positions, but the England centre half picked his time to intervene wisely and resulted in turning over possession cleanly.

Maguire needs to set a benchmark of performance based off this performance and maintain those standards. With Varane on the right-hand side, the Frenchman looked far more comfortable than on the left and was able to nullify West Ham’s attacks with relative ease.

While Diogo Dalot’s shots from 40 yards were unwelcome, his work-rate and defensive prowess were a highlight which kept the Hammers quiet. Aaron Wan-Bissaka might be ruled out through illness, but it will take some doing in order to get his shirt back with the way Dalot has slotted straight into the team.

It is clear that Manchester United need a defensive midfielder sooner rather than later, but Scott McTominay and Fred are complementing each other well in midfield and looking more progressive than a few months back.

Declan Rice, who was absolutely outstanding at Old Trafford, should be the principal target, although the transfer fee is likely to reach the £100 million mark. The England international covered every blade of grass and was a thorn in Manchester United’s side as he intercepted and broke up play constantly.

Manchester United simply must build on this momentum now and come up with more wins to solidify their top four position. Next up is the FA Cup where they will be expected to overcome Championship side Middlesbrough.