| Manchester United’s Anthony Martial in action with Partizan Belgrade’s Zoran Tosic REUTERS/Andrew Yates |
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praised forwards Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood after their ruthless display in front of goal secured passage to the Europa League knockout stages with a 3-0 win over Partizan Belgrade.
Teenager Greenwood opened the scoring on Thursday before a spectacular solo effort from Martial in the 33rd minute, the first time United have scored twice in the first half at Old Trafford this season.
Rashford’s powerful strike four minutes into the second half put the result beyond doubt.
“I’m very pleased with all of those finishes, all three goals were high class,” Solskjaer said.
“Mason showed great composure, … Anthony’s was probably the skill of the night, and then I was very pleased Marcus scored with his left foot. He’ll need more goals on his left because he is in that position often and he can go both ways.
“This is a little bit of a template of how we want to play. Of course, it’s the opposition that allow you to play that way as well.”
The only negative for Solskjaer on the night was an ankle injury to midfielder Scott McTominay in the closing stages of the match.
The 22-year-old has started all 11 of United’s Premier League matches this season but may miss Sunday’s game against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday.
“It didn’t look too good,” Solskjaer added. “He went over on the inside of his ankle. He said he was going to be OK out on the pitch because he is tough but then he had to come off. I hope he will recover for Sunday, but I am not sure.”
REUTERS