Manchester United have won the Premier League double in September as Erik ten Hag and Marcus Rashford both picked up end of month awards.
Ten Hag has won the Manager of the Month prize after the Red Devils won both of their matches in September, beating Leicester City 1-0 before securing a vital victory over Arsenal three days later. This saw United move up to fifth in the Premier League table, with the Red Devils winning four of their opening six matches so far.
The Red Devils were scheduled to travel to Crystal Palace on September 10 but the game was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, while their clash with Leeds United was also called off. This was due to policing issues, with the Queen's funeral set to take place a day later.
Meanwhile, Rashford has been named as the Player of the Month, after the forward scored twice and grabbed two assists in those two games - the most out of any player in the division. The 24-year-old assisted Jadon Sancho for the winner in their victory over Leicester, with Rashford playing a delicate through ball into Sancho's path, before the midfielder finished comfortably.
This was all before Rashford put on a stunning display as United beat Arsenal 3-1 to end the Gunners' unbeaten start to the campaign. New £86million signing Antony opened the scoring with a cool finish after Rashford had laid the ball off for the Brazilian to tuck home.
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Arsenal equalised shortly into the second-half when Bukayo Saka tucked the ball into the corner for his first goal of the season. But Rashford would turn into the match-winner as he gave United the lead after being played through by Bruno Fernandes. The forward composed himself before slotting the ball beyond Aaron Ramsdale - to the delight of the Red Devils faithful.
Then Rashford added his second and United's third with a relatively easy finish. Christian Eriksen beat the offside trap and ran through on goal. All he needed to do was square the ball across for Rashford to tap the ball home and he did just that, with the England international doing the rest, calmly tucking the ball into an empty net.
It was a performance that capped off an impressive start to the season for Rashford, who also scored in United's win over Liverpool last month. He is beginning to re-capture his form after a difficult season and losing his place in the England squad.
However, speaking after unveiling his 28-man squad for their Nations League double-header against Italy and Germany on September 15, Gareth Southgate refused to rule out the chance of Rashford making the final cut for Qatar as he laid down a challenge for the United forward to "perform at a high level in the next few weeks".
"There were certain players we wanted to keep involved this time but that said it doesn’t mean that this is the end for some of the others who aren’t involved," said Southgate.
"Marcus Rashford, for example, has shown some encouraging signs recently. He is a player we know well so if he can perform at a high level in the next few weeks, he of course will be under consideration."
