Erik ten Hag’s men made a bright start as they looked to build on a series of positive displays in recent weeks. Cristiano Ronaldo fired from range but Łukasz Fabiański was equal to it before Rashford’s powerful header was directed straight at the goalkeeper.
The Hammers began to gain a foothold after the early exchanges, with the elusive Saïd Benrahma proving particularly dangerous, but there was very little for David De Gea to do in the hosts’ goal.
With anxiety spreading around Old Trafford, a sleek move from the Red Devils alleviated the tension and broke the deadlock as half-time approached. Christian Eriksen’s gorgeous cross was powered home by Rashford at the back post through a Ronaldo-esque bullet header.
Remarkably, United have now netted four of their last five goals in all competitions through headers, the only exception in that run being Ronaldo’s strike against Sheriff Tiraspol.
David Moyes’ side endured a nervous start to the second half, with Rashford narrowly missing another powerful effort and Gianluca Scamacca escaping a second yellow card for a high foot that clattered into Lisandro Martínez.
West Ham also struggled to punish the hosts for their sloppiness on the ball, with De Gea remaining a spectator for large periods.
That changed in the closing stages, with the Spaniard making a hat-trick of spectacular stops to deny Michail Antonio, Kurt Zouma and Declan Rice. His heroics helped United over the line to a fifth consecutive clean sheet on home soil for the first time since June 2020, closing the gap to the top four to a single point in the process.
Sensationally, they’ve not dropped a single point from winning positions in the league this season, leaving West Ham without a league victory at Old Trafford since May 2007.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lisandro Martínez (Manchester United)
