On Sunday, England striker Marcus Rashford scored his 100th goal for Manchester United to secure a 1-0 victory against West Ham as he pushed for a World Cup spot.
After numerous years of mediocrity, Rashford has been one of United’s players who has improved the most this year.
However, the 24-year-seat old’s on England’s aircraft to Qatar for the World Cup in November is still not secured.
Rashford, who was not selected for England’s most recent Nations League team, used the opportunity to show Gareth Southgate what a valuable player he is by putting up a strong performance at Old Trafford that was capped with the game-winning goal in the first half.
Rashford’s sixth goal in all competitions this season, which Southgate was watching from the stands, came just before the England manager announced his World Cup roster.
Rashford praised the role the United boss played in his comeback after scoring against Sheriff in the Europa League on Thursday. He described playing for Erik ten Hag as a “pleasure” to play for.
Ten Hag’s team has moved up to fifth position in the Premier League thanks to Rashford, who became the 22nd player to reach a century of goals for United, and a string of outstanding saves from David De Gea.
United, who have gone unbeaten in their previous eight games across all competitions, are one point behind of Newcastle in fourth position in the fight to make the Champions League for the next season.
David Moyes, the manager of West Ham, has lost 12 of his 16 Premier League away games against his previous team, United.
When Raphael Varane was sidelined, Harry Maguire got his first league start since August 13 and United had to rely on chance at times. This caused their defense to sputter.
Rashford is on fire
The major danger for United came from Rashford, who sliced past the West Ham defense to unleash a strong shot that struck Craig Dawson and floated just beyond the crossbar.
Rashford came dangerously close to scoring again as he headed Lukasz Fabianski of West Ham into action from a cross from Diogo Dalot.
After a short suspension for refusing to enter the game as a substitute against Tottenham, Cristiano Ronaldo was making his first league start since the scoreless draw with Newcastle on October 16.
A promising assault was ended by a misplaced ball from Ronaldo, which led to moans of annoyance from United supporters. Their agitation increased when Anthony Elanga volleyed wide from an excellent position.
But in the 38th minute, Rashford calmed United’s nerves with a well-timed run to the far post, where he sprang above Thilo Kehrer to meet Christian Eriksen’s beautiful cross with a thunderous header from six yards.
In the second half, Rashford continued to be on fire, eluding his defender for a curler from the outside of the box that whistled just wide.
Ronaldo lost two excellent opportunities in rapid succession as he headed over and then fired wide, leaving him shaking his head in dismay.
Ronaldo, 37, continued attempting, and if those misses were a sign of his decline, his deflected shot nearly went past Fabianski.
West Ham’s main threat was Said Benrahma, and De Gea made a strong save on his long-range attempt as the visitors exerted consistent pressure.
In a nail-biting conclusion, De Gea proved to be United’s savior as the Spaniard stopped Michail Antonio before stopping Kurt Zouma’s header with an even greater save.
Dea Gea saved his best for last as he dove to his left at full stretch to save Declan Rice’s shot that was headed for the goal.