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United View: Are the Reds back in business?

Manchester United experienced another good week of football, first beating FC Sheriff 3-0 in the Europa League, then triumphing over former manager David Moyes and West Ham in a 1-0 win.

United made light work of Sheriff in the Europa League. Although they had to wait until just before half-time to finally break the deadlock, thanks to a near post header from Diogo Dalot. From that point, the result never looked in doubt and United added two more goals in the second half.

Marcus Rashford scored the second and Cristiano Ronaldo added the third. After the drama surrounding Ronaldo last week, it was nice to see him back amongst the goals for United.

There was still controversy though, this time Antony was in the firing line. Receiving criticism for performing a skill where he spun around in circles with the ball. It seemed like a massive overreaction to something that had such little consequence. Let’s not forget that Antony comes from Brazil, the birthplace of so many footballing entertainers.

The Brazilian was then dropped in the game against West Ham; however, Ten Hag said it was due to injury. Thankfully his services weren’t required as United came away with a 1-0 in another resilient defensive display.

Rashford scored the only goal and what a goal it was, rising high to get on the end of a Cristian Eriksen cross to power a header past Fabianski. It was a special goal for Rashford too, his 100th for Manchester United. His recent form surely leaves Gareth Southgate with a selection dilemma as the English forward has looked revitalised under Ten Hag.

The same can be said of Diogo Dalot, who played a key role in securing all three points too, winning multiple headers at the back post to keep West Ham at bay. The Portuguese fullback has started every game this season and credit is where it's due as he’s improved massively since last season.

United clung on in the final 10 minutes, with De Gea making some vital saves along with Martinez and Maguire putting their bodies on the line. A nervy end to the game but United did enough to get the win and the clean sheet.

Even though United won, they could have handled the game better in the second half. At times they were sloppy in possession which invited pressure from the Hammers. Ten Hag will no doubt look to improve upon this going forward so that we don’t have to finish each game in a similar white-knuckle fashion.

Enough of the negative talk, let’s look on the bright side and things are bright! After some favourable results over the weekend, United are now only a point from Newcastle in 4th spot with the reds having a game in hand. They also haven’t conceded a goal at Old Trafford in 5 games. That’s massive when you think back to last season when Old Trafford was as leaky as a broken tap.

Let’s not get too carried away as there's still plenty of action before the World Cup break in November. United next travel to San Sebastian in their crunch match with Real Sociedad as they battle for the top spot in Group E. Ten Hag’s side needs a 2-0 win to finish top, no easy feat as United found out in their 1-0 defeat to the Basque club in September.

After that is, another tough game away to Aston Villa. Villa has struggled this season, but they could experience the famous football cliché of a new manager bounce under Unai Emery. Let’s hope United can flip the script and keep their good run going.

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