Mark Lawrenson has declared that a row could follow Manchester United’s win over West Ham United on Saturday as a result of Edinson Cavani’s controversial last-gasp assist to set up Marcus Rashford’s decisive goal. The England striker fired home in stoppage time to seal all three points for the Red Devils, who climbed above the Hammers and into the Premier League’s top four as a result of their latest victory.
It was another frustrating afternoon for United on all fronts, with Ralf Rangnick’s side unable to break West Ham’s resistance for the vast majority of the contest at Old Trafford.
However, they finally managed to rubber-stamp a hugely important victory when Rashford found the back of the net with virtually the last kick of the game.
Questions were immediately raised over Cavani’s role in the move, which involved all three United substitutes with less than 30 seconds of injury time remaining.
The Uruguayan was deemed to have been onside after a VAR check as he held his run to collect Anthony Martial’s pass before sliding the ball towards Rashford.
Lawrenson was adamant that the goal should not have stood, though, as he ran the rule over the incident on BBC Radio 5 Live.
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“He looked offside, Edinson Cavani, he really seriously did,” said Lawrenson.
“There will be a row about this, I bet. The number of strange decisions from VAR we have seen, you never, ever know.”
It remains to be seen whether the result will ultimately prove to be a turning point for United, who have endured a lacklustre campaign after spending over £100million on new players during the summer transfer window.
They have managed to win each of their last two matches and will be hoping to continue their positive run of form against Burnley in their next Premier League outing after the winter break.
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Rashford insisted that his side will be looking to maintain their newly-found momentum after the final whistle at Old Trafford, stressing that it will be hugely important to avoid dropping off when the action resumes next month.
“It is obviously an important goal and such late on is an amazing feeling,” explained Rashford when quizzed on his match-winning contribution.
“We have to use that winning feeling. We could have been a bit better on the ball but managed to get the goal we needed and can use that as motivation now.
“When there are two teams so close together in the table, both are fighting to be in front of one another and today we managed to get there.
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“We are sitting fourth now, some teams have games to play, but it is nice to be in that position.
“The wins are what’s important, when you get wins, consecutive wins, you can really start to go on a run and that is what gives everyone confidence.
“We have had a difficult week, there have been many games in one week, so the break is needed. It’ll be good for us.”
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