Manchester United defender Luke Shaw says the “belief and confidence” is back at Old Trafford after they stretched their winning run in all competitions to six games with a comfortable victory over a hapless Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Midfielder Casemiro latched onto a Christian Eriksen free-kick with a beautifully cushioned volley to put Erik ten Hag’s side ahead half way through the first half.
They doubled their lead four minutes into the second period as Shaw, playing in his more accustomed left-back role again, swept home an Alejandro Garnacho cut-back to complete a beautiful free-flowing move.
Marcus Rashford then rounded off the scoring, tapping into an empty net after a Bruno Fernandes pass, to score in three successive Old Trafford league games for the first time.
“The strides we are taking are going in the right direction that we want,” said Shaw. “There is still a lot to improve on but things are looking really good and positive.
“We feel like the belief and confidence is back, and you can feel it around the place, not just with the players and the staff but you can feel it in the stadium and around the fans.
“Hopefully they are enjoying it at the moment but I feel there is a lot more to come and hopefully we can keep putting smiles on people’s faces.”
United had started slowly, having a lot of possession in their defensive third but, once they found the opener, a seventh successive home win in all competitions never felt in doubt.
They stay fourth, but join third-placed Newcastle on 35 points, and, perhaps most importantly, have opened up a five-point cushion on fifth-placed Tottenham.
One negative for United was a first-half injury sustained by midfielder Donny van de Beek, with Ten Hag saying “we need to wait 24 hours, but it is not looking very good”.
Bournemouth, who failed to have a shot on target until the 57th minute, stay 15th, two points clear of the relegation places.
