Marcus Rashford scored again as Manchester United stretched its Premier League unbeaten run to five matches with a 1-0 win over West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Rashford thudded home a Christian Eriksen cross to put the Red Devils ahead before halftime and the defenders stood strong the rest of the way as Harry Maguire played well in a surprise start.
WATCH MANCHESTER UNITED v WEST HAM FULL MATCH REPLAY STREAM
Erik ten Hag’s United are eight games unbeaten in all competitions and sit fifth on the Premier League table with 23 points. The club remains on a top-four pace, holding a match-in-hand on two of four clubs ahead of it.
As for West Ham, three wins in their last five is now three-in-six. Progress has stalled with 14 points in 13th place.
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Here’s everything you need for Manchester United vs West Ham.
What we learned from Manchester United vs West Ham
Brave Man Utd stands strong: Erik ten Hag has changed the attitude at Old Trafford. No, the club is decidedly not reminding anyone of the SIr Alex Ferguson era in terms of quality, but the pride and strength of will sure looks something closer to what we remember from the Red Devils when they were one of the finest teams in the world (and one of most dreaded to compete against over 90 minutes).
Maguire a big part of that: You can’t say enough about the much-maligned English center back’s performance in the place of sick Victor Lindelof (and without Raphael Varane to lean on).
It was close, though: Jarrod Bowen missed two significant chances to score for the visitors, and David De Gea made a pair of outstanding saves including a ridiculous flying stop on Pablo Fornals deep in stoppage time. Throw in a glorious block from Maguire just before that and David Moyes will be again cursing his bad luck at Old Trafford.
Tactical focus
What happens to a tactical plan when your best midfielder goes astray? It was a poor day with the ball for Casemiro, and Man United found that its best tactical outlet was a veteran goalkeeper capable of masking errors. A four-save MOTM day for David De Gea stands out as of post time.
Stars of the show
David De Gea
Christian Eriksen
Diogo Dalot
Harry Maguire
Declan Rice
Said Benrahma
What’s next?
Man United has a Europa League group decider in Spain against Real Sociedad on Thursday before a Sunday morning trip to Aston Villa.
West Ham’s off to FCSB in Romania on Thursday before a Sunday visit from Crystal Palace.
Marcus Rashford goal video: Eriksen feeds hungry winger
How to watch Manchester United vs West Ham live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 12:15pm ET, SundayTV Channel: USA NetworkOnline: Stream via NBCSports.com
Key storylines
There is a calmness and control about Manchester United right now, even with the latest Cristiano Ronaldo saga barely in the rearview mirror. This side look robust and resolute and they withstood plenty of pressure against Chelsea last time out and should have won that game had they put away any of the huge chances they created in the first half. For West Ham, they are back to being a nuisance and are a truly horrible team to play against. They are grinding out wins and they will soon be battling for European qualification.
In-form players to keep an eye on
Casemiro has been incredible in central midfield for United and his late header grabbed them a well deserved point at Chelsea. The Brazilian destroyer is linking up well with Christian Eriksen centrally and Bruno Fernandes is also getting back to his best and his pulling the strings. Luke Shaw has also been very good at left back. The only thing United are missing is being clinical in attack and maybe, just maybe, Cristiano Ronaldo could find a way back into the starting lineup. For the Hammers, Declan Rice is powering them to wins from midfield and the Flynn Downes has been a revelation just ahead of him in the central areas.
Manchester United team news, injuries, lineup options
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe, and Brandon Williams remain out, while Anthony Martial remains a doubt with a back injury. Raphael Varane is out until the World Cup break with the thigh injury he picked up last weekend but it seems like he will make France’s squad as the issue is bad as first feared. That means Victor Lindelof or Harry Maguire have been handed a chance to partner Lisandro Martinez in defense.
The United team is in! 🚨#MUFC || #MUNWHU
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 30, 2022
West Ham team news, injuries, lineup options
Lucas Paqueta (shoulder) and Maxwel Cornet (calf) are out, while Jarrod Bowen is nursing an ankle injury but will start at Old Trafford. Moyes has plenty of options in attack including Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini, and Pablo Fornals off the bench.
