Rangnick’s three substitutes - Anthony Martial, Edinson Cavani and Marcus Rashford - combined for the only goal of the match.
Follow Us
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick had plenty of reasons to celebrate after a late Marcus Rashford goal in injury time saw the Red Devils pick up three crucial points against West Ham United in the Premier League. For a while, the match at Old Trafford appeared to be heading for a stalemate in what was a crucial top-four clash. However, Rangnick’s three substitutes – Anthony Martial, Edinson Cavani and Rashford – combined for the only goal of the match to send the supporters in the Theatre of Dreams into wild celebrations. After the final whistle, Rangnick took to the pitch to congratulate his players and thank the fans for their vocal backing throughout the match.
“It couldn’t have been better than that, if you score in the last second of the game,” he said in his post-match duties. “It was amazing. The atmosphere, the Red Army was pushing the team for 94 minutes. A great atmosphere and I can only say congrats and thank you for the support of the fans, that made it a lot easier for us and as I said, an enormous, important win and physically, [it was] a great performance. We didn’t always find the right solutions in possession of the ball, especially in the final third of the game, but the way we played defensively after playing only three days ago at Brentford, I was really impressed by the team.”
READ MORE – Marcus Rashford’s last-gasp goal helps United beat West Ham 1-0
One of the aspects of the game that pleased the manager more was the defensive display shown by his side. Manchester United looked assured at the back and hardly gave their opponents any chance to test goalkeeper David De Gea.
Speaking about their control in the game, he said, “Defensively, I would say yes [we had it] because from the normal game, we didn’t allow them too many chances and as I said, it wasn’t easy against them, they’re a very physical team. I’m still not quite happy with the way that we played with the ball so this will have to be the next steps in the next couple of weeks, that we also find better solutions in possession of the ball.”
“I can only remember one good chance they had, the corner kick, five minutes from time. From normal play, I can’t remember any situation. We had two or three good ones, especially with Fred, the header from Cristiano in the first half. It was a very competitive and a very physical game.”
Speaking about scoring in stoppage time, Rangnick said, “I wouldn’t mind if that happened but again of course we would also like to have more games like Brentford when we were 3-0 up. But if you score in the last second of the game, the big advantage is there is no time for the other team to reply, and that was the good one about today’s goal.”
Manchester City vs Liverpool: Talking points from the action-packed draw
