Manchester United are doing what is required: winning to ensure those chasing their second position do not gain ground, this edgy victory following third-place Leicester’s earlier win on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side were hardly a whir of irresistible football but they will not care. In squeezing Craig Dawson into forcing home past his keeper, Lukasz Fabianski, for the winner United also kept West Ham nine points behind them in fifth in the challenge for a Champions League berth – their absolute minimum requirement.
