MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Alejandro Garnacho scored Manchester United’s second goal, then perched on an advertising board and beckoned Rasmus Højlund and Kobbie Mainoo to come and sit alongside him.
It was quite the sight to hearten the home fans at Old Trafford: the 21-year-old Højlund, the 19-year-old Garnacho and Mainoo, 18, sitting in a line and smiling.
The future might be bright for United after all.
Højlund marked his 21st birthday by scoring for the fourth straight league game and Garnacho got two goals as United beat West Ham 3-0 in the Premier League on Sunday for a second victory in three days.
“The future for Manchester United is very good because we have high potential,” United manager Erik ten Hag said. “I think that picture covers the lot — how they are together and want to play football with adventure and enjoyment. If we keep this process going, I am sure we will achieve high levels.
“We are building a team, we signed young players and give them opportunities. This is a process with ups-and-downs and we have to realize this.”
United jumped above West Ham into sixth place in the standings but there’s still a six-point gap to Tottenham in fifth, which could yet be enough for a Champions League qualification berth for next season.
United has to believe it can get there.
Especially with Højlund finally hitting such strong scoring form.
The Denmark striker failed to find the net in his first 14 games in the Premier League after joining from Atalanta in the summer transfer window. Now he cannot stop scoring, his latest coming in the 23rd minute when he collected the ball after Casemiro’s well-timed interception in midfield, created some space for himself on the edge of the area and rifled home a right-foot shot into the bottom corner.
“His confidence is growing,” Ten Hag said of Højlund. “He is playing better on the ball, he is a target and he is linking up.”
Argentina international Garnacho doubled the lead in the 49th with a shot that deflected off Nayef Aguerd and wrong-footed replacement goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who came on for Alphonse Areola after he sustained a knock to the head. The winger’s celebration alongside Højlund and Mainoo, the teenage central midfielder who scored a late winner at Wolverhampton on Thursday, showed three players United might be relying on for years to come.
Garnacho wrapped up the victory by scoring on the counterattack in the 84th after substitute Scott McTominay dispossessed Kalvin Phillips, a loan signing from Manchester City who also came off the bench and didn’t look up to speed after little game time this season.
A negative for United was the sight of Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez being forced off with a right knee injury in the 70th minute. He attempted to play on after appearing to twist his knee when challenging for the ball with West Ham’s Vladimir Coufal.
Martinez has only recently returned after four months out following foot surgery.
“It seems bad,” Ten Hag said. “We have to wait, make the right diagnosis in the coming days and then we will see. Hopefully it is not too bad, we can only pray. He worked so hard to return.”
Wolverhampton 4, Chelsea 2
In London, Chelsea’s expensively assembled team slumped to a second straight heavy loss in the Premier League, with Wolverhampton following Liverpool in taking apart Mauricio Pochettino’s team in a 4-2 victory on Sunday.
Chelsea was overrun in a 4-1 hammering at Anfield on Wednesday and was also picked off by Wolves, for whom Brazil striker Matheus Cunha scored a hat trick at Stamford Bridge where jeers rang out at fulltime.
Chelsea, which was quiet in the January transfer market after spending more than $1 billion in three previous windows, dropped to 11th place and below Wolves in another below-par league campaign under the club’s American ownership.
Cole Palmer gave Chelsea the lead in the 19th minute but the hosts were behind at halftime thanks to Cunha’s deflected equalizer — after centre-midfielder Moises Caicedo was dispossessed — in the 22nd and an own-goal in the 43rd by Axel Disasi, who stretched to block Rayan Ait-Nouri’s shot and saw the ball spin into the net.
Cunha converted Pedro Neto’s cut-back in the 63rd for 3-1 and calmly stroked home a penalty in the 82nd after he was tripped by Malo Gusto.
Thiago Silva replied for Chelsea in the 86th but Pochettino’s team couldn’t add another despite heavy pressure in 10 minutes of stoppage time.
Bournemouth 1, Nottingham Forest 1
In Bournemouth, Gio Reyna made his debut for Nottingham Forest as a second-half substitute in the team’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday.
The United States midfielder came on in the 78th minute, four days after signing from Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season.
Forest had equalized by then, with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s curling 45th-minute strike cancelling out the opener in the fifth minute from Justin Kluivert when he scored from close-range at a corner.
Hudson-Odoi’s match came to a premature end after Bournemouth substitute Philip Billing clipped the back of his Achilles, with Billing sent off in the 84th by referee Rebecca Welch, who was booed off the field by the home support.
Dominic Solanke needed one goal to draw level with Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah in the chase to finish as the league’s top scorer, but the Bournemouth striker struggled for chances at Vitality Stadium.
Forest moved two points clear of the relegation zone.