Manchester United are top of the Premier League at this stage of the season for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign which they ended by claiming a 20th title.
For this they can thank Paul Pogba, the midfielder crowning a fine display with a sweet 71st-minute winner. This came when the Frenchman won an initial flick-on, the ball went to Bruno Fernandes and he found Marcus Rashford along the right. The No 10 crossed and there was Pogba to smash in a volley that beat Nick Pope via a Matthew Lowton deflection.
Victory means United go to 36 points and overtake Liverpool, with 33 – this having last been achieved after the same number of games when beating Sunderland 3-1 on 15 December 2012 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The upturn in United’s fortunes under Ole Gunnar Solskjær is further underlined by the changed circumstances as they head to Anfield on Sunday: before last term’s corresponding fixture United were 27 points behind.
A delighted Solskjær stated that meeting will be difficult and praised Pogba. “He is a good character in the dressing room, he is always the one the lads look to and he’s a world champion of course. He’s at his best at the moment,” the manager said.
Pogba said: “I am always happy when I win and we are top [but] there is still a long way to go, there are big games coming up so we have to focus on that.”
Credit: The Guardian
