united hope 'A big step forward' - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on his side's title hopes after Wolves win

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played down his side's Premier League title hopes, as Marcus Rashford scored a 93rd-minute winner to secure a 1-0 win against Wolves at Old Trafford.

United moved up to second place in the Premier League and are just two points behind leaders Liverpool as they found a way to win on a night when they were not at their best.

Solskjaer's unconvincing team are now within striking distance of Liverpool at the top of the table, but the United manager was keen to dampen down talk of a title challenge.

"We have got to a decent position at the moment but the season hasn’t even reached halfway," he declared. "We just focus on the next game. I am very boring but we cannot get too far ahead of ourselves.

"We have to take it one game at a time but if we can keep finding ways to win like this we will see where we are at the end of the season. Today was tough but we expected a tough game but managed to get over the line.

"Last season we didn’t win many points towards the end of games and we have a tradition of it at this club.

"Now we’ve won quite a few points towards the end of games and that’s both a mental aspect and also a physical aspect.

"We’ve got a group now that’s more robust both mentally and physically, we’ve gone through some tough training periods and played loads of games and they’re getting fitter. Mentally it gives you a mental boost knowing you can win games towards the end of games.

"It’s the first win in the league for me against them. There have never been many goals in the games but for me this is a big step forward, that you don’t play well but you win."

The encounter was the fourth meeting of these sides in 2020 and looked set to end with them sharing a third goalless draw as the hectic festive schedule took its toll.

But United dug deep and eked out a late winner at an empty Old Trafford, with Rashford capping a year to remember – on and off the field – by sealing a 1-0 triumph at the death.

"This means a lot," declared Rashford. "We were a little disappointed that we didn’t play as well as we wanted to or could have but it is three points and no matter how scrappy it was we will take it.

"For us, we can’t look too far ahead. We are a team that is still doing a lot of work on ourselves.

"We have to take it one game at a time but if we can keep finding ways to win like this we will see where we are at the end of the season."

Liverpool and United have now played the same number of matches, with the two-point gap certain to heighten the hype when the two teams meet at Anfield next month, with that game currently due to take place on January 17th.

However, there is increasing expectation in England that the Premier League and English football as a whole may be set for another break, with Covid-19 cases surging across the country and several clubs struggling to field teams in the coming days.

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Online Editors