MARTIAL’S LAW RULES
Striker earns first hat-trick to keep United on Euro path
MANCHESTER UNITED 3
SHEFFIELD UNITED 0
IT WAS a stage set for Paul Pogba’s Old Trafford return – but it ended with Anthony Martial stealing the show with his first hat-trick at United.
The France international was the cutting edge of a sharp United display that was too slick for Sheffield United.
Yet if he walked off with the match ball, there were a number of contenders for best supporting actor, including his international team-mate Pogba, below.
Martial’s treble, the first for the club in the Premier League since Robin van Persie in 2013, lifted him to 14 top-flight goals and United to within two points of Chelsea in fourth.
The prospect of Martial, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Pogba on the pitch at the same time will have Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and United fans believing that should be the lower limit of their campaign next year.
United’s second match back after the restart provided a first glimpse of the much-anticipated axis between Fernandes and Pogba, the latter in Solskjaer’s starting line-up for the first time since September last year. But it was the partnership between Rashford and Martial that really clicked and took the game away from ChrisWilder’s Blades.
Just seven minutes were gone when Ollie Norwood allowed a throw-in from the right under his foot. Rashford pounced, squaring from the byline and Martial reacted quicker than Chris Basham to glance home.
Six minutes later, Martial returned the favour, sliding the ball square after drawing the keeper, only for Rashford to fluff his lines in front of a gaping goal under pressure from Phil Jagielka.
United produced the best move of the half – a lovely interchange between Fernandes, Rashford and Pogba – the latter lofting a deft flick over the last line only for Rashford to again fail to connect on the volley. They enjoyed better luck with a more direct route just before half-time, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka arrowing a sharp low cross from the right that Martial converted from 12 yards out.
Wilder had felt compelled to defend his players’ efforts after losing at Newcastle but there was certainly no lack of effort here. The visitors just found things happening too fast around them.
Pogba then showed some stardust. One dribble from outside the box enabled him to glide past three players before his luck ran out, with Martial taking the chance to sky a potshot over.
Martial then earned his hattrick, with Rashford providing a chipped one-two that his partner clipped over the advancing Simon Moore.
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6; WanBissaka 8, Lindelof 7, Maguire 7, Shaw 6; Matic 7, Pogba 7 (Pereira 80); Greenwood 7 (Mata 81), Fernandes 8 (McTominay 80), Rashford 7 (James 80); Martial 9 (Ighalo 80). Goals: Martial 7, 44, 74.
SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Moore 5; Basham 5, Jagielka 7, Robinson 6; Baldock 6, Lundstram 6, Norwood 5 (Berge 46 5), Fleck 5, Stevens 7; McGoldrick 5 (Zivkovic 64 5), Mousset (McBurnie 46 6).
Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire).