Martial treble keeps Man United in top-four hunt

Manchester United's Anthony Martial in action with Sheffield United's Sander Berge, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Michael Steele/Pool via Reuters 

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters): Anthony Martial scored Manchester United’s first Premier League hat-trick for seven years to inspire a 3-0 home win over Sheffield United on Wednesday and maintain their hopes of a top-four finish.

The French forward’s maiden career treble was also the first by a United player in the league since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after they won their record 20th league title.

United stayed fifth in the standings on 49 points from 31 games, two behind fourth-placed Chelsea whose game in hand is a home clash with champions Manchester City on Thursday.

Martial was delighted after taking his league tally to 12 goals, surpassing his previous record of 11 amassed in the 2015-16 season.

“I feel very good, it’s the first hat-trick in my career,” he told Manchester United television.

“I’m happy because the team played very good today. (Marcus Rashford) gave me one or two assists today, so the most important thing is to win. I tried to give him a chance to score, no competition, we just want to win.”