POGBA TICKS ANOTHER BOX ON SOLSKJAER CV
IT’S Valentine’s Day on Thursday – how fitting for Manchester United. In the battle for the hearts and minds of Old Trafford, there’s no contest after the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer love-in showed no sign of slowing down at Craven Cottage.
A heavily-changed line-up came through this match as if it was a training game ahead of a mouthwatering midweek examination in the Champions League against Paris St-Germain .
Two goals from Paul Pogba, a superb solo effort from Anthony Martial and a clean bill of health. What is there not to like?
Solskjaer said: “It was perfect preparation for Tuesday.
“This is a tough place to come. We played into their hands in the first 10 minutes. They put the ball into the box a few times.
“But after we scored the first goal we played a fantastic 80 minutes.”
Of course statistics can lie. But the sheer weight of them in Solksjaer’s favour is amassing at such a rate that it is impossible to ignore.
These three points lifted Manchester United into the top four for the first time since the opening match of the campaign and extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches.
The caretaker boss has collected more points in his first nine games than anyone else in Premier League history.
Pogba has scored 11 Premier League goals this season – reaching double-figures for the first time – and seven of them have come under the Norwegian’s stewardship.
All right, victory here against a struggling team that ignored the basics of defending is not in itself sufficient evidence.
But set against a backdrop of such a marked overall improvement, the decision-makers at Old Trafford must now be running out of reasons why Solskjaer should not be given the job on a permanent basis.
After a bright opening five minutes for Fulham, during which Luciano Vietto and Andre Schurrle should have done better with clear sight of goal, United scored with their first worthwhile foray into Fulham’s half.
Possession was lost by the hosts 30 yards from their own goal. Ander Herrera found Martial on the left. He had time to look up and spot Pogba’s break, which took him beyond Fulham’s defence. Though the angle was acute, the Frenchman fired a shot inside Sergio Rico’s post.
Midway through the half, Phil
Jones stepped in front of Aleksandar Mitrovic and broke up an attack . His pass to Martial was received a few yards inside the forward’s own half.
The striker hit fifth gear, shrugged off the attention of Dennis Odoi, who was out of position in the first place, and then turned Maxime Le Marchand inside out before planting a right-foot shot across Rico and into the bottom corner. It was all too easy. Romelu Lukaku took advantage of a poor attempt by Tim Ream to sneak the ball off him and scampered down the right.
When he eventually played the ball inside, Le Marchand whipped Juan Mata’s legs from under him.
Pogba maintained his stuttering run-up and his penalty-scoring habit.
Claudio Ranieri contested the penalty award but he had little other cause for complaint.
He was booed when he substituted Schurrle for Cyrus Christie, revealing afterwards that the former Chelsea man had been suffering from a fever.
Ranieri said: “I understand the fans want to see a fight until the end. We are in a very dangerous situation.
“I told my players that it was important to show the fans that it is important to fight until the end.
“They did that. You can lose against the big teams but it is just as important to learn from the experience of your mistakes.”