Manchester United broke their three-game winless run on Wednesday when they beat Brentford 1-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League. Manchester United failed to score or win in their last three Premier League games, including a 7-0 loss to Liverpool, a 0-0 draw to Southampton, and Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Newcastle United.

The combination of those results saw Manchester United drop from the UEFA Champions League places, but a Marcus Rashford’s strike after 27 minutes of the game was enough on Wednesday as United returned to the top four, leveled on points with Newcastle United and three points beyond Spurs in fifth.

Erik Ten Hag was happy with the performance but knows that more needs to be done by his players, especially with a game with Everton coming up at the weekend.

“It was a very good performance. First half, we played brilliant football, and it is not easy against a very good Brentford. They defended compactly, and we didn’t concede any chances. Second half, we conceded only one chance, so then you can say the performance is really good. This has to give us energy, but we go again. Saturday is a big game again, it is going to be a hard game, and we know we need the energy to beat Everton.” Erik Ten Hag said.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United played a 5-1 win over a poor West Ham United on Wednesday as a flurry of defensive mistakes dropped them further into relegation problems.

A brace each from Callum Wilson and Joelinton and a late strike from Alex Isak saw the Toons continue their impressive form. Despite Kurt Zouma’s first-half strike to put West Ham in the game, it was more or less a consolation strike.

While Newcastle boosted their European chances, West Ham United are currently in fifteenth and tied on points with Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Bournemouth at the lower end of the table with 27 points.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu