LONDON • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confident Manchester United are a "different team" from the sluggish side who started the season after extending their unbeaten run to 17 games in all competitions with a 3-0 win at Aston Villa on Thursday.
The Red Devils were rampant at Villa Park as they became the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive games by a three-goal margin.
Mason Greenwood, 18, continued his rise to stardom with another fine finish for his 16th goal in all competitions this season, becoming only the fourth player aged 18 or under to score in three straight English top-flight games, after Danny Cadamarteri, Michael Owen and Francis Jeffers.
It came after Bruno Fernandes' penalty opened the scoring, with the January recruit also teeing up Paul Pogba to score his first goal for over a year as United moved to within a point of the top four.
Pogba has made only nine Premier League starts this season, missing a large chunk of the season before the three-month coronavirus hiatus due to injury.
But his return to fitness, the form of Fernandes - no player has had more than his seven goals and six assists in 10 league games - and the emergence of Greenwood, make United the favourites to clinch a Champions League spot ahead of fourth-placed Leicester (59 points).
Their recent hot streak, has reportedly also convinced Pogba his future lies at Old Trafford - a possibility that seemed remote last summer when his agent Mino Raiola agitated for a move to Real Madrid.
On the France midfielder, whose deal expires in 2022, United manager Solskjaer revealed he was hopeful that a contract extension can be agreed, saying: "He's a fantastic person, fantastic player, one of the best midfielders in the world. You can see he is enjoying himself. The team is a different team to the one he left when he was injured. The focus, attitude, everything is miles better in that dressing room."
Pogba wants United to show their form of the last few weeks over the long haul to challenge champions Liverpool and Manchester City for the league title - which they last won in 2013 - next season.
"We are talking in training that we have to carry on, that's what Manchester is, it is a big club and the performances of the last few weeks are the standard," he told Sky. "We didn't win the Premier League, that's the standard, so there is a lot of work to do."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
