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LONDON, Feb. 9 – Manchester United moved up to fourth in the Premier League as Anthony Martial's sublime strikes inspired their 3-0 victory over Fulham today.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team led Paul Pogba's clinical entry early in the first half at Craven Cottage.
But it was Martial who stole the show as the winger ran halfway down the length of the field before dropping energetically to double the United lead before half-time.
This painful solo attempt was followed by Pogba's imposing penalty in the second half, while United climbed into fourth place, one point above Chelsea, who will face Manchester City tomorrow.
Winners of six consecutive away games, in all competitions, for the first time since May 2009, United is resolutely looking to rank among the top four, 11 points behind the defeats of the day Jose Mourinho was sacked in December.
They have won 10 of 11 games in all competitions since Solskjaer replaced Mourinho as interim leader.
United remains undefeated under his former striker Solskjaer, who dispelled the sadness of Mourinho's division reign and set out on a quest for a permanent position.
United's drive on the banks of the Thames was the perfect preparation for his first leg of the last 16 Champions League games against Paris Saint Germain at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
Fulham is second last after losing five of his last six league games and faces a daunting task to avoid relegation.
Solskjaer made six changes by leaving behind Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Victor Lindelof.
These switches left United looking uncertain in the first moments and Luciano Vietto reached center Andre Schurrle, only to flay his half-volley off when he should have hit the target.
Schurrle opened fire at close range after Alexsandar Mitrovic forced Chris Smalling to make another mistake a few moments later.
But on a windy afternoon, United had missed his chance and was about to blow up Fulham.
They took the lead with a superbly constructed goal that in the 14th minute revealed the tightest defense in the Premier League.
Ander Herrera skillfully avoided a backstage of Jean-Michael Serri and chose Martial at the edge of the region of Fulham.
Martial's perfectly balanced pbad caught Fulham's feet in the foot and Pogba surprised Sergio Rico with a fierce strike that swept Fulham's goalkeeper to his nearest post.
This is the seventh goal of Pogba since Solskjaer took it in hand, highlighting how the star of France is out of his shell after the departure of his nemesis Mourinho.
Since the arrival of Solskjaer, Pogba, who now plays a free role that better matches his personality, has been directly involved in more goals, scoring or badisting, than any other Premier League player.
Still, Pogba was reduced to the role of admiring spectator for once when his compatriot Martial had doubled United's lead in the 23rd minute.
Jones started the electrical counterattack by winning the ball and distributing the ball to Martial just inside half the field.
Fulham had thrown too many players forward and they were pitilessly punished.
Martial accelerated before Maxime Le Marchand and left Denis Odoi behind him before yielding to the finish.
Martial, another United star who was offended by Mourinho's sharp tongue, is once again at his best and his 11th goal of the season was the perfect way to celebrate the signing of a new five contract recently.
While Fulham was helpless in attack, his boss, Claudio Ranieri, made fun of him by replacing Schurrle by defender Cyrus Christie early in the second period.
United accumulated misery for Ranieri in the 65th minute.
Romelu Lukaku's pbad found Juan Mata just inside the box and Le Marchand responded with a panicked push, conceding a penalty kick that Pogba converted into a typically nonchalant style. – AFP
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