BRUNO’S A REAL KNOCKOUT HIT

He’s powering United’s bid for a Champions League spot but next four games are vital

WITH a quarter of their rather mundane season left, Manchester United stand on the brink of unexpected achievement.

If they show any kind of consistency, appetite or gumption over the next few weeks then a place in the Champions League could yet be theirs.

United have not looked like a European team for much of this campaign. Even their better moments have been so fleeting as to disappear from memory almost immediately.

But now, a combination of successive victories and the enduring frailties of others have left United standing squarely in front of opportunity and it would appear the next four games may go a long way to telling us whether they really are capable.

A win at Chelsea last Monday followed by a performance here that grew better the longer it went on has left United in fifth, just three points off what is admittedly a rather slovenly pace.

Up next are games against Everton, Manchester City, Tottenham and Sheffield United. Four games to make or break a season? It pretty much looks that way.

Here, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were slow to start but finished rather well. The Norwegian (right) will hope it is a metaphor for the season. This is a United team more suited to playing on the counter attack and the direct and aggressive new signing Bruno Fernandes has helped with that.

The winning margin was three and that in itself was a good sign. For much of this season, United have struggled to create opportunities but here they managed 21 shots. That represents significant improvement.

In the last 20 minutes they were particularly dangerous and looked like a United team should. Hungry and eager to entertain, it was a throwback spell and one they were able to produce largely because of what happened in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

A goal ahead at half-time after a penalty won and converted by Fernandes in the 42nd minute, United were the better team but far from home and dry. So when Troy Deeney prodded a loose ball into the roof of the net after Craig Dawson had bundled a corner against the post and along the goal line, it appeared that a Watford team that continues to look better than its league position suggests were back on terms. United can still look a little fragile when things like this happen so it would have been interesting to observe their reaction.

But while Watford celebrated, the Premier League’s VAR officials got to work and within a minute referee Martin Atkinson had indicated a handball against Dawson, who had met the ball from the corner with his upper arm. This is how VAR should work. The Watford supporters vented their disappointment but the fact of the matter is that Dawson had committed an offence and the whole thing had been dealt with within 60 seconds. If it was like this every time, there would be few complaints. For United, it is becoming a familiar feeling. Two VAR decisions went their way at Chelsea, too. The key is to make the most of the ones that land in your favour and United were quick to take advantage. Watford were pushing men forward in increased numbers as they sought parity and United were able to pick them off. Anthony Martial’s goal came six minutes after the VAR decision and was well taken. It was the impressive Daniel James who played the Frenchman clear down the inside-left channel and even though Ben Foster blocked the first effort with his legs, Martial was able to recover the ball, turn and lift it into an empty goal that should have been protected by at least one covering defender on the line.

Foster, hasty in advancing to fell Fernandes for the penalty, was not at fault here and was raging at the lack of cover. He probably knew what we all knew, namely that a two-goal deficit was going to be too much for his team.

Watford had been decent for an hour. Deeney and Abdoulaye Doucoure had sniffed at half chances in the first period while the latter also drew a sharp save from David de Gea by his left-hand post.

But Nigel Pearson’s team began to look vulnerable as they chased a lost cause in the final half an hour and after Foster saved from the breaking Martial and Harry Maguire put a header wide, United scored the goal of the game with 15 minutes to go.

Will Hughes lost the ball on the halfway line and immediately Watford looked to be in trouble. Fernandes slipped the ball through to Greenwood, who eased to his left and crashed a shot high above Foster’s right shoulder and into the net with his left foot.

So this was one of United’s better afternoons, a day on which they looked a little more like they really should. Solskjaer’s team are yet to win three league games on the spin this season. Now would be a good time to change that.

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6; Wan-Bissaka 6, Lindelof 6, Maguire 6, Shaw 6; Matic 6, Fred 6 (McTominay 78); Greenwood 7 (Chong 78), Fernandes 7, James 8; Martial 6 (Ighalo 78). Subs not used: Romero, Bailly, Mata, Williams. Booked: None. WATFORD (4-2-3-1): Foster 5; Dawson 5, Kabasele 6, Cathcart 6, Masina 6; Hughes 6, Capoue 6; Pereyra 5 (Sarr 68), Doucoure 6, Deulofeu 6; Deeney 6 (Welbeck 75). Subs not used: Gomes, Mariappa, Cleverley, Chalobah, Gray. Booked: Cathcart. Man of the match: Daniel James. Referee: Martin Atkinson. Attendance: 73,347.