United's Red Arrows pass Bournemouth test with flying colours

The form guide could not have made for more contrasting reading as Manchester United welcomed AFC Bournemouth to Old Trafford for a league game with ramifications at both ends of the table.
United - brimming with confidence and momentum - unbeaten in sixteen and on an undoubted upward trajectory. Eddie Howe's men on a torrid run of one win in nine, struggling for any kind of form and starting down the barrel of a return to the Championship. Bournemouth had actually beaten United in the return fixture, but those were very different days and, this time, surely there was only one winner.

But, as we all know, form means very little in football. Just ask Burnley, who rocked up at Old Trafford in January and left United a deep shade of claret after their first win on our turf in 57 years - leaving a club on its knees and a manager clinging to his dream job for dear life. Back then, you'd have got long odds on that not only being the last time we tasted defeat but also on us making any kind of inroads towards not just the much coveted fourth spot, but 3rd too.

Things had been ticking along almost too well since United's post-lockdown resumption. A creditable point at Spurs was followed by convincing wins over Sheffield United and Brighton and a not-quite-so comfortable cup win at Norwich with United taken to extra-time.

Things are never too easy, so when Junior Stanislas gave Bournemouth - struggling, relegation-threatened and out of form Bournemouth - a shock lead at Old Trafford, this was a test of United's mettle.
Here we had a familiar feeling of deja vu, a lowly, plucky underdog fighting for their lives turning up at Old Trafford and failing to read the script. Ahead and with new found belief, Bournemouth had something to defend. The plan: setting up in a familiar low block and battening down the hatches in anticipation of a Red siege. For a club that have proved very definition of defying the odds - with the scalp of United already under their belts - it was exactly what they would have wanted. A year ago, even six months ago perhaps, a 0-1 deficit to rank, relegation battling outsiders - even with 75 minutes left - would have spelt catastrophe for a United side.

All too often, United have looked clueless when it comes to breaking down teams with eleven men behind the ball, sides camped in their own 18 yard box. Heads drop, minds become shrouded and antipathy grows as United feebly try to break the lines by painstakingly passing up blind alleys, taking pot shots from distance and playing at a snail's pace, passing two yards sideways and backwards with soporific and statuesque movement. Repeat ad nauseum. It has been our Achilles heel.

Yet not this time, not for this reborn, revitalised, Manchester United 2.0. It never even entered my head that we'd fail in this recovery mission. Instead of falling into a slumber, the beast was merely reawakened as United rose to the challenge rather than wilting in its face. Where before there may have been anxiety, panic and dread, there was only a renewed sense of confidence and belief. Two words flashed through my head as Stanislas slotted beyond David de Gea. Bury them.  Isn't it great that we're going into matches feeling like this, even when things do not go to plan and the applecart is threatened with an upset.
Watching the game with my United supporting mate, I half jokingly said we'd be 2-1 ahead by half-time. I was wrong. We were 3-1 up by then. It took only 14 minutes to reach parity, then another six minutes to turn water into wine. Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford restored normal service before Anthony Martial's stunner turned the tables further and seemingly did, indeed, bury them.

Josh King had other ideas and again asked the question of this United team. Would we cave in, would we go under and would heads drop? The former Reds man made it 3-2 with a penalty to push the Cherries back to within touching distance. The kill-them-off mantra reapplied. Given our reaction to Bournemouth's opening goal, it shouldn't have surprised anyone that United set about their task immediately. Arnaut Danjama could have further tested resolve had he not been offside, but the close call was swotted away and failed to shrink United's violets, motivate them to close ranks, shut down the game and allow the increasingly confident Cherries a route back in. That's what the moribund sides of Messrs Mourinho and van Gaal may have done.
Rather, it drove the Reds to step up again. There was only another six minutes before Greenwood's second strike, this time with his 'weaker' right foot, restoring the two-goal advantage. Like Perrie Edwards and Keira Knightley, that beauty was soon followed by another, Bruno's free-kick bringing up United's five goal haul for the first time in the league since Solskjaer's managerial debut.

There was still no let up as the Red Arrows continued to soar forward, painting pretty patterns, constantly changing formations and cutting a swathe through Bournemouth's increasingly soft and increasingly shapeless centre.
We could have ended up winning 6 or 7-2 such was our eventual superiority, but the point is United are no longer hermit crabs, no longer the cannon fodder that we were under Mourinho and van Gaal. This side don't go into their shells after taking a lead. There's no fear, no nervousness in the manner the Dutchman and the Portuguese's conditioning evoked. Now, United are red hot, rampaging and like the bull in the proverbial china shop.

He's magic, Bruno, our best midfielder since Paul Scholes!!

Any strong, seaworthy vessel needs a captain, a leader, and a capable hand on the tiller to steady the literal ship and guide his crew through the darkest of nights and the stormiest of seas.

158 days ago, the vessel named HMS Manchester United found that man. The man, like his illustrious predecessor, arriving from Portugal - and, like another illustrious predecessor, wearing the no.18 shirt. Many would have baulked at the challenge, at the task of steering this magnificent vessel away from the rip tides, away from the shark-infested waters and set a craft previously in danger of being lost to the ocean back on an even keel.

Not Bruno Fernandes. Here was a man who liked a challenge, a man who saw Manchester United's current plight as a personal insult. Not for the first time, someone came from Sporting Lisbon to Old Trafford and - metaphorically - set the place on fire. Fernandes, like the conductor of an orchestra, struck a chord with fans and got everyone singing from the same hymnbook. Not for him was there a gradual, drip-feeding settling in period - more an almighty din, an omnipotent and omnipresent higher power, a man to make an entire football club dance to his tune, bend opponents to his will and a man with the Midas touch as a talismanic figurehead.

Despite playing only 13 games since his arrival, and seeing big name players such as Radamel Falcao, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez and Memphis Depay fail to make an impression before him, Fernandes is already our best post Sir-Alex signing. January signings traditionally take time to settle, but Fernandes has taken to his task like a duck to water, earning the February Player of the Month award and  directly contributing to more goals than games played. As the stakes have got higher with United chasing the top four and a potential cup double, Fernandes influential importance has only grown. We've needed a player like this for years.

It's not just his off-the-charts ability but his elite mentality and attitude. Fernandes demands nothing less than 100% from those around him, he's a born winner, a true leader and has already become the string pulling heartbeat and the heart and soul of Manchester United. It's difficult to describe exactly how good Fernandes has been, but not since Eric Cantona has a foreign import made such a thrilling and pivotal difference to the fortunes of an entire football club.

The number 18 shirt is an iconic one at Manchester United, perhaps just as much as our revered, much-vaulted number seven. The King himself, of course, wore that number, but the number 18 is befitting for Bruno, having been worn by club legend Paul Scholes. Scholes was undoubtedly one of United's greatest-ever players, playing over 700 games having risen through the ranks as one of Fergie's Fledglings to become one the finest exponents of his craft the game has ever seen.
When Zinedine Zidane was asked how it felt to be the best midfielder in the world, his reply? Ask Paul Scholes.

There was nothing Scholesy couldn't do - a complete player who simply had everything. He could dictate the play from deep, he could score, he was strong, his range of passing was simply magnificent and he had opponents on strings. A player synonymous with  the zenith of United's golden, glittering era, Scholes is widely regarded as one of the best the Premier League and the planet has ever seen. Certainly, he walks into any discussion when it comes to picking an all top top flight XI. Michael Carrick has perhaps been the closest we've seen to Scholes since. The two are vastly contrasting players, with Carrick's Rolls Royce style the string-pulling heartbeat of United for more than a decade. Whereas Scholes would leave his foot in - literally - Carrick seemed to glide through games and the two gave United the perfect balance in the engine room.

Scholes ran the show as United's number 18 for the best part of 20 years, and - in Fernandes - United have a player set to finally follow in those illustrious footsteps, bridging the gap from one generation to another.  Fernandes is Scholes 2.0, the Messiah re-incarnated. Ashley Young may have been a significant downgrade having taken the legendary shirt from the diminutive, flame-haired lad from Salford, but Fernandes, even if he retires tomorrow, will have done the shirt justice. There's a case to be had that Fernandes is the best we've had since Scholes.

The vessel named HMS Manchester United is fit for purpose again, and headed for calmer, tranquil, more peaceful seas this time around.

Mason Greenwood a generational talent with a golden future

The 2019-20 season will be remembered as a campaign like no other. The unthinkable finally happened for the first time in three decades, with a numbing sense of inevitability. The coronavirus pandemic dominated headlines, took a deadly hold and forced the entire world into a three-month long lockdown. The campaign will finish only a few days before the next one should have started.

Away from football, Britain finally left the EU after three years of wrangling, space travel was revolutionised, we saw NBA legend Kobe Bryant's tragic death and the impeachment of US President Donald Trump. 

We also witnessed the start of something special, the emergence of Manchester United's next brightest young thing. An 18-year-old with the world at both of his lethal, lightning quick feet - fresh from the Carrington conveyor belt - burst onto the scene and catapulted himself into the national spotlight.

2019-20 was the season in which Mason Greenwood did not just turn up and knock on the door but ran up to it, smashed that door clean off its hinges and charged straight through. In recent times, Jesse Lingard, Andreas Pereira, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Brandon Williams have all broken into the senior side, keeping up United's rich tradition of a pathway from schoolboy Red to first team stardom. But Greenwood could perhaps be the best Academy graduate since the Class of 92, so good is he. 

Still only 18, Greenwood has hit 14 goals in his debut, breakthrough season at Old Trafford, drawing comparisons with legendary United striker Robin van Persie with his technique, method of shooting, movement and body shape. The eye for goal, the power, the instinct and his blistering pace. Its as if RvP has been re-incarnated in the form of our number 26. Not since Cristiano Ronaldo has an 18 year old seemed so instantly at home and at ease in the Red of Manchester United. 

What seems so special about this lad is the confidence and natural ability he has. Time and again, he shows he's not afraid to take on his man, even if it means losing the ball. The way in which he shifts his body, turns and takes players out of the game is mesmerising in a manner that's hard to describe. 

In Greenwood, United have discovered a star - a gold, 24-carat, diamond-encrusted, generational talent and if he carries on with his upward trajectory he truly will be a world superstar. That has been said many times before, but the youngster has already produced some stunning performances and it's difficult not to get carried away with how high his ceiling could be.

When Greenwood scored his first United goal against Astana back in September, it justified Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's decision to allow the hapless duo of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez to leave. It has taken Greenwood time to become a first-team regular, with five of his seven league starts having come since February. Scoring eight goals - one every 115 minutes - only three players (Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney), have managed that before turning 18. Greenwood, not 19 until October, has outscored team-mate Rashford at the same stage of his career.  

In a week when Dortmund set their price for right flank heir apparent Jadon Sancho, it begged the question: do we even need him with Greenwood in the finest, free-scoring form of his young career. Of course Sancho is one of the brightest young stars in Europe and every team should be involved in a clamour for his services, but Greenwood's emergence has raised difficult questions for the United hierarchy. Already capped by England at Under 21 level, Gareth Southgate can't have failed to notice the hottest 18-year-old prospect in the land. Imagine the 2022 World Cup with Sancho, Greenwood, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka in tandem... 

Sometimes, you can just tell that a young player has 'got it' - whatever 'it' is. Cast your minds back to the last day of the 2018-19 campaign, a season that ended in ignominy for United with defeat at the hands of Championship-bound Cardiff. Whilst it was an embarrassing end to a poor season for the club, Greenwood became the club's youngest ever starter with a full debut against the Bluebirds and proved the only bright spark, coming closest to scoring and running more than anyone else in Red. He looked like he was going to make something happen every time he got the ball, and stood out like a sore thumb. 

His two goals against Bournemouth came at a time when United needed them most, and added to his growing collection of belters. In the mould of one of the Premier League's deadliest ever Dutchmen, Greenwood and the manner of a certain teenaged tyro by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United's future is in safe hands. 

Match report: Man Utd 5-2 AFC Bournemouth

A rampant and red hot Manchester United temporarily moved into the top four after a five star showing against Eddie Howe's struggling Cherries.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side survived an early scare after Junior Stanislas had given the relegation threatened visitors a shock lead at Old Trafford after fifteen minutes. 

A year or even six months ago, that might have spelt catastrophe for a fragile and feeble United side, but this Reds side is made of sterner stuff and United hit back in style.

Mason Greenwood continued his hot streak with another stunning finish and a Marcus Rashford penalty - his 20th goal of the season - completed the turnaround. Anthony Martial's screamer, a goal of the season contender, brought up his 20th too before Josh King once again had United sweating. 

Greenwood restored the two-goal advantage and Bruno Fernandes then completed the rout with a trademark free-kick on the hour mark. In truth, United could have won by more if not for several top stops from Cherries keeper Aaron Ramsdale, but our front three now have 54 for the season, three more than Liverpool's much-vaunted triumvirate of Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane. 

Solskjaer named an unchanged side for the third league game in a row, something that hasn't happened at United since 2006, with his side unbeaten in 16 and confidence coursing through their veins.
Howe's side clearly had not read the script though, as Bournemouth capitalised on a slow United start to take a surprise lead. Stanislas collected the ball after Victor Lindelof had missed a header, before he outfoxed Harry Maguire with a nutmeg and cracked home at the near post beyond David de Gea, whom should have done better.
Ramsdale denied Rashford but United responded swiftly and had levelled another fifteen minutes further on. It was another assist for Fernandes, driving at the visitors backline before he squared to Greenwood. The 18 year old took a touch and thumped home an emphatic finish - even if Ramsdale will feel he could have kept it out.

Five minutes later and United lead when Matic's lofted pass was handled by Adam Smith and Rashford made no mistake from 12 yards.
Martial then got in on the act with a stunning 20-yarder to move United further ahead and complete a stunning turnaround that left Bournemouth gasping for air.

Despite their lowly league position, to their credit the Cherries did not completely crumble and came back again. Half time sub Eric Bailly was adjudged to have handled - somewhat harshly as replays showed the ball hit his shoulder - and former Red King halved the deficit and reignite a thrilling, action packed contest.

De Gea and Maguire then erred again, inadvertently allowing Danjuma to get a shot in and score an apparent equaliser, only for the Cherries sub to be flagged offside.

De Gea redeemed himself with a good save to keep out Stanislas, but with United wobbling, Greenwood stepped up to settle the nerves again with another ridiculous finish. Out of nothing, he collected the ball on the halfway line, took on Diego Rico and slammed a right-footed effort back across goal and in.

Having already claimed an assist and earlier gone close himself, Fernandes soon got in on the act with an excellent 25-yard free kick, even if VAR had to check for a possible offside in the wall against Matic.
The action was relentless as Rashford had a goal ruled out at the culmination of a flowing move, moments after Bournemouth had gone close at the other end through Jefferson Lerma.
Pogba headed wide and Ramsdale saved well from the Frenchman, Luke Shaw, Fernandes and substitute Fred as rampant United showed no let up in their search for a sixth.
Not since a Boxing Day romp against Wigan in 2011 had United managed that, but - on this evidence - the wait might not be so long. 

Overall team performance: 8/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Mason Greenwood 

A-star Fernandes takes Man Utd towards gold standard

22 January 2020. Manchester United 0-2 Burnley, the Clarets first win in these parts for 57 years and a night when United hit their post-Sir Alex nadir.
It was a night when United's chickens came home to roost, as years of under-investment, penny pinching and ineptitude came crashing to earth amidst a rising cacophony of discontent. Fury was vented in the stands, with much of the spleen being directed to United's American owners the Glazers, even in absentia, and CEO Ed Woodward. Old Trafford was toxic and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - for seemingly the umpteenth time - seemed a man on the very edge of the precipice.

Six months on, you'd have got long odds on the season running deep into summer, but also of that dreadful night being the last time Manchester United tasted the bitter pill of defeat. 15 games on, and the Red Arrows are revitalised, a team enjoying a renaissance and a revival as the shadows shorten.
A team top of the Premier League form table and fighting for third spot and two cup wins, a club transformed by the arrival of a man from a small Iberian nation with a rich football heritage and two of Europe's biggest clubs.
United needed a spark, someone to light the touch paper as the conductor of an unharmonious orchestra that was terribly out of tune. A playmaker, someone to provide United's discombobulated, square pegs in round holes squad with the X Factor and a sprinkling of stardust. Enter, Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes. A man from Portugal and a man on a rescue mission. To get that orchestra united again, to get the merry band of men all singing from the same hymnsheet.

I've never seen an individual have such a transformative effect on an entire football club. The doom and gloom has lifted completely and no one has won more matches in the English game than we have since Fernandes arrived from Sporting.
A vibrant, free-flowing style is coming to the fore under Solskjaer - with Fernandes at its heart. I really am running out of superlatives for this man. Notably jaded and below par at Norwich, Fernandes proved that was only an aberration as he ran the show at The Amex, leaving Brighton in the sea and on the rocks with a devastating individual display. He passed them into submission, added two goal of the season contenders to his growing collection, and left the Seagulls dancing to his tune. A born winner, a true leader and the string-pulling heartbeat of a side growing before our eyes, Fernandes clearly demands 100% from everyone around him but in a way that just makes you love him. He oozes class and charisma, and even if he'd only played ten minutes he'd have been my man of the match. He could have had a hat-trick, he battered Brighton, served them with chips and left the Seagulls feeling blue. He was absolutely magnificent and can you imagine where we'd be if we'd signed him the summer and not January. Our best signing since Ronaldo, Fernandes would walk into any team in Europe.

Linking well with Paul Pogba, our Portuguese magnifico also did his bit defensively and never stopped running. The architect, the alchemist turning United's silver plating into gold. There had been
a feeling that Fernandes might need a break at some point, having already played 28 games for Portugal and Sporting Lisbon before his much-feted arrival in M16. Not that you'd know it here, as he swept home an excellent opener and then capped a stunning breakaway move with a dipping volley as United went from one end of the field to the other in eleven seconds. Bruno has been simply majestic, as one glance at his stats will tell you.

In the 12 games in which Fernandes has featured for United, we've won eight, drawn four, scored 28 and only conceded four. Since his debut in February, Fernandes has been directly involved in more goals in all competitions than any other player in the Premier League, with six goals and four assists.
It's more than that, though. It's the mentality and attitude he brings, an elite mindset in which nothing but the best is good enough. That alone makes him the archetypal Manchester United player.

Sparkling Matic the epitome of rejuvenated Man Utd

Bruno Fernandes, Mason Greenwood and Paul Pogba may have stolen the show and grabbed the headlines against Brighton but there was another impressive if unheralded performer.

Manchester United have turned their season around since January and no one has epitomised that more than Nemanja Matic.  Fernandes may have been the catalyst for United's stunning reversal of fortunes, but - in his own way - Matic's impact has been just as important. Pogba and Bruno's devastation further up the field may not be as effective without Matic patrolling and penetrating, directing the traffic and keeping United moving. In many ways, his own personal remontada has mirrored that of United's collective upturn.

The Serb seemed destined to leave Old Trafford in January, considered a peripheral outcast by his manager with Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay, Fred and even James Garner ahead of him in Ole Solskjaer's pecking order. Seemingly at odds with the progressive, forward-thinking style Solskjaer wanted to implement, Matic was a symbol of the past, the very epitome of the slow, structured and rigid football United had lumped together under Jose Mourinho. Struggling for form and game time, a parting of the ways looked likely, even inevitable.

Up until January, you couldn't really have disputed that. With his 31 years catching up with him in a race against Father Time, Matic would suck the life out of United's midfield. Slow and ponderous, he would take what felt like an age to bring the ball under control - taking five or six touches before passing the ball two yards backwards or to the side of him. Ageing with a lack of pace and poor ball retention, he had become more of a hindrance than a help and at times if felt as if we had ten men with Matic in the team.
Signed to a three year contract and a 130-k a week wage by former manager Jose Mourinho in 2017, that deal was due to expire in the summer. In the long absence of Pogba, Solskjaer built his midfield around the grit of McTominay and the guile of Fred. Matic played in the odd cup game, but that was only to give the aforementioned pair a breather rather than any belief or trust in the Serbian. When McTominay, too, picked up injury and with Andreas Pereira and Jesse Lingard about as much use as a chocolate fireguard, Solskjaer gave one Matic one final chance at redemption. He shined like a diamond amongst stones.

United have played 23 games since Boxing Day and Matic has featured in 19 of those, either from the start or a substitute. Apart from the aberration of his red card at City in the EFL Cup semi-final, he has been nothing short of magnificent. Gone is the stale, rigid, indecisiveness, here is the remodelled, reborn, Matic 2.0. A Rolls Royce of a player, his performance against Brighton was the latest in a string of top class showings, a new lease of life for a player in the best form of his career. This is the Matic we saw at Chelsea under Mourinho in the title-winning team of 2015. We know he's not the quickest, but you don't need every player to be at breakneck speed. He filled the void left by McTominay to such an extent that you'd never know the Lancaster-born Scot had ever been away. Shielding the defence and probing with his passes, Matic also showed a willingness to drop back into defence to cover for Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw when they took the ball to attack.

Dominant and string pulling at the Amex, Matic set the tempo, dictated the play and constantly kept the team moving. Mopping up the danger and starting attacks from deep, his stunning array of passes ensured United were always on the front foot. I've never Matic use the ball so well and so intelligently, content to run the midfield almost on his own to give Pogba and Bruno licence to roam further forward at will. Matic was spraying raking 60 yard passes like Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick used to, and set up our third goal with a gorgeous reverse volley to set Mason Greenwood away. It was one of the passes of the season.
It seems unfair  to leave Fred and McTominay out of the team as neither of them have done anything wrong, but Matic is now undroppable. I don't know how he managed to turn things around, but all credit to him for doing so.

Match report: Brighton&HA 0-3 Man Utd

A Bruno Fernandes inspired Manchester United left Brighton feeling blue with a sensational display of attacking football on the south coast.
United, under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho, had suffered successive and shambolic back-to-back defeats at the Seagulls' Amex Stadium home, but were completely dominant here to continue our winning run and move back to within two points of place-above Chelsea.

Having made eight changes at Norwich in the FA Cup, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer restored the Reds might attacking tridents as Paul Pogba and Fernandes started together for only the second time.
The Reds Portuguese magnifico was exactly that - scoring twice with a shot from distance and then at the culmination of a stunning counter-attack goal reminiscent of the halycon days of yesteryear.
In a team performance that was stylish and at times scintillating, Fernandes was again the conductor of the the orchestra, leading the charge and b
ending Brighton to his will.

Having waited seven years for a league hat-trick - a drought ended by Anthony Martial against Sheffield United last time out - United could have had two in as many games had Fernandes found the net instead of the post with the game goalless.

The victory at the Amex is a long overdue one and means the team are now fifteen unbeaten in all competitions, including three wins and a draw since the resumption after the coronavirus lockdown.

United were on the front foot from the off and came close in the 13th minute through Fernandes. Harry Maguire found Aaron Wan-Bissaka, he in turn moved the ball on to Pogba and Fernandes slammed the ball against the upright with Brighton keeper Mat Ryan beaten.

Marcus Rashford had a penalty appeal turned down but Brighton simply couldn't deal with United's poise, precision and pace and the inevitable breakthrough was not long in coming.
Maguire again started the move, finding Wan - Bissaka and he moved the ball on Mason Greenwood. The 18-year-old burst in the box, skipped past the stranded Lewis Dunk and fired in finish at the near post - a goal reminiscent of Robin van Persie and the generational talent's 13th goal of an impressive debut season.

Fernandes flashed a shot over the bar but United were in irresistible mood and moved 2-0 ahead shortly before the half hour mark. Luke Shaw's run and cross down the left picked out Pogba, he moved it on to his partner in crime and Fernandes slammed home from the edge of the area for his sixth goal since joining in January.

Five minutes into the second half, Fernandes had another and this one was a goal of the season contender. It came at the culmination of a stunning team move, as Maguire's clearance found the in-form Nemanja Matic and he moved the ball on with a sizzling reverse volley to Greenwood.
The teenager stormed clear down the right, left Martin Montoya and Lewis Dunk trailing in his wake and turned provider for Fernandes with a chipped pass that was met on the volley by the onrushing Portuguese, slamming home a wonderful volley to complete a move that will live long in the memory. It was a goal that United's 2008 vintage would have been proud of.

Brighton, to their credit, continued to cause problems, mainly through the lively half time substitute Leandro Trossard. He fired wide and then headed over, before Ole - with Saturday's visit of Bournemouth in mind - took off Pogba and Fernandes with Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira getting some minutes in their legs.

Having been a virtual spectator all night, David de Gea kept his concentration throughout and was called into action on 68 minutes. Aaron Connolly sent in a shot, but De Gea was equal to his dipping effort and pushed it over the bar, also denying Neil Maupay with another superb save moments later.

McTominay and fellow substitute Dan James went close to a fourth goal with both being kept out by Ryan, but - clinical and ruthless - the Reds cruised to a vital victory to stay firmly in the hunt for Champions League qualification.

Overall team performance: 9/10
United Faithful Man of the Match: Bruno Fernandes (honourable mentions to Matic and Greenwood)