Rashford fires Man Utd into top four, Newcastle hit West Ham for five

Marcus Rashford sent Manchester United back into the Premier League top four with the winner as the Red Devils beat Brentford 1-0 on Wednesday, while Newcastle won 5-1 at West Ham to stay third.

Callum Wilson and Joelinton each scored twice for the Magpies, who remain above United on goal difference.

Both sides now have a three-point lead over Tottenham and a game in hand on Spurs in the race for a place in next season’s Champions League.

United had slipped to fifth after a run of three league games without a win and cup commitments that meant they had not registered a Premier League win since mid-February. Erik ten Hag’s men also had a score to settle with the Bees after a humiliating 4-0 defeat when the sides last met in August.

The Dutch coach was stinging in his criticism of his players’ attitude and desire in losing 2-0 to Newcastle on Sunday and got the response he was looking for.

“Hopefully we can build on that and get back to where we were a couple of weeks ago,” said Rashford. “Everyone’s clear on the fact that we’re not going to play our best football every week, but we have to maintain our standards.”