Marcus Rashford‘s 100th goal for his club earned Manchester United the match as they beat West Ham 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday.
After struggling to create chances for much of the first-half, Rashford broke the deadlock with a perfectly directed header from Christian Eriksen‘s cross in the 38th minute.
“We didn’t play well but good to win games like that. If we want to achieve our aims we have to win games like that,” Rashford said.
“Beautiful feeling [to get his 100th goal]. Something I have been working on, I feel I need to score more goals like that and keep getting in those areas. Pleased that I have managed to score today and it’s always good to score regardless of whether [England manager] Gareth Southgate is watching or not.
“Completely different energy in the team, we had a difficult start but we have to keep going.”
David Moyes had never won at Old Trafford as an opposition manager in the Premier League, a run of 15 winless matches, prior to Sunday’s encounter, but his West Ham side more than held their own in the first half in the Manchester rain.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.)
The visitors piled on the pressure as the match wore on, with David de Gea twice called into action to deny West Ham substitute Michail Antonio, producing superb stops on both occasions.
Cristiano Ronaldo started for United for the first time in the Premier League after he refused to come on as a subsitute against Tottenham and left the match early.
Another sensational save from De Gea to deny Declan Rice right at the end of the match preserved United’s victory which takes them above Chelsea into fifth in the standings, one point behind fourth-placed Newcastle. West Ham stay 13th.
For the first time in the Premier League this season, United will end a day in the standings with a positive goal difference.
“The last few games against United we have done the same,” Moyes said. “We done a good job, played well, put them under plenty of pressure, we just lacked the final ingredient.
“David de Gea’s two saves were fantastic. You can’t be United’s number one if you are not a fantastic goalkeeper.
“We are disappointed not to score. We played very well at Anfield, missed a penalty, had a couple of opportunities, and it was the same tonight.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.