Manchester United trio Martial, Fernandes and Pogba pick Sheffield United apart as Solskjaer vision takes shape

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Project Restart feels more like a reset for Manchester United.

A reset to a time when they used to brush opposition like Sheffield United aside, rather than battle with them for a place in the top four.

A time when a galaxy of stars in red would ruthlessly expose the class divide between the Premier League's elite and newly-promoted upstarts.

Chris Wilder’s side headed to Old Trafford knowing a win would have moved them above United and dealt a major blow to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s hopes of securing Champions League qualification.

Instead, they left the stadium five points adrift and feeling fortunate they had not been on the end of a real hiding.

Anthony Martial’s hat-trick separated the teams, but had Marcus Rashford’s finishing been anything like as accurate as his build-up play, the scoreline would have more closely reflected United’s dominance.

Anthony Martial netted a hat-trick as Manchester United cruised past Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening
PA

At times they were spectacular, with a slickness and speed to their play rarely seen in recent times. If this was Solskjaer’s grand vision all along, then his designs on returning them to the summit of English football may yet come to fruition.

In two games since the resumption of the campaign, United have answered questions that too often left them stumped in the past.

For the second match in succession it was a case of attack versus defence. And once again United managed to make their territorial dominance count.

Against a well-drilled Jose Mourinho defence last week, Tottenham eventually wilted. A point felt like so much more.

Sheffield United barely had time to set out their defensive block – breached after just seven minutes by Martial, they were powerless in their attempts to avoid being overrun as Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba combined so effectively to pull them apart.

The speed of Rashford, Martial and Mason Greenwood had them backtracking and the movement, vision and interplay of Fernandes and Pogba picked them open.

Martial’s third perfectly summed up a performance of United cohesion. Pogba swept the ball forward to Fernandes, whose first time backheel found Martial on the edge of the area.

He laid off to Rashford before bursting into the box to meet the return pass. With Simon Moore to beat from close range, the France forward impudently lifted over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

It was the first Premier League hat-trick scored by a United player since Robin van Persie’s on the day Sir Alex Ferguson clinched his final title in 2013.

That statistic in itself feels representative of the woes felt in these parts over those seven long years. For Martial, he has now recorded his most prolific campaign with 19 goals.

Amazingly, it was the first top-flight treble scored by a United player since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

For Solskjaer, it will be a source of personal pride after putting his faith in the potential of Martial and Rashford to develop into consistent goalscorers under his watch.

His revolution has been brought about as much by a process of pruning, as splashing the cash. Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez made way to provide Martial and Rashford with a stage to develop their partnership.

Rashford has 18 goals – and should have been knocking on the door of a hat-trick himself, but for some out-of-character finishing on his part.

One miskick – after a swift break and link-up with Martial – saw him miss an open goal from 12 yards. Later his air shot after Fernandes’ lobbed pass saw him fail to work Moore with just the 'keeper to beat.

Solskjaer pounded his fists in frustration in reaction to the first of those misses and for that reason he declared himself not 100 per cent satisfied with arguably the most complete performance of his reign.

Victory could and should have been more emphatic, he insisted.

“It’s worrying when you go in at half-time knowing you should score two or three more goals,” he said. “But the control and the way we pressed and stopped Sheffield United from playing as well was very good.

Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba - seen here with Martial - helped to pick the Blades apart as they started together for the first time (Manchester United via Getty Images)
Manchester United via Getty Imag

“I’m very pleased with the performance, but there’s still more to come. We shouldn’t be 100 per cent happy with it.”

It’s now 13 games unbeaten for United, who have continued their impressive pre-lockdown form.

The last time they played at home was their memorable derby win against Manchester City, which prompted the most fevered atmosphere heard in this stadium for a long time.

From raucous celebrations to the silence of behind-closed-doors football in this post-coronavirus age.

To their credit, the club did an impressive job of trying to ensure the stadium appeared as full as possible with the faces of 40,000 fans draped over the stands as part of a spectacular mosaic.

Solskjaer’s concern was more about what was happening on the pitch and gaining an advantage on United's Champions League rivals.

His respect for the threat Wilder’s side posed was evident in his team selection as he started Fernandes and Pogba together for the first time.

There was an unusually profligate display from Marcus Rashford against Sheffield United
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

It was Rashford and Martial who combined to ruthless effect after seven minutes to open the scoring. Rashford’s burst into the box from a throw-in saw him drive a low cross from the right, which Martial converted from close range.

After two misses from Rashford, Martial ensured United’s dominance at least produced a more emphatic lead before half-time with his second goal a minute before the break.

It was a goal that perfectly displayed United’s creative options with Fernandes and Pogba in the team.

Fernandes drove towards the box and was winding up to shoot when he saw the space closed down. The Portugal international then then laid off to Pogba, who opened up the defence with his pass to Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was left smiling as Manchester United extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches
REUTERS

United’s right-back crossed for Martial to score from close range.

Those are the type of goals Solskjaer has demanded he add to his game – crucially he is now leading an attack with the creativity to provide him with those chances to exploit.

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