Ralf Rangnick hailed the dressing room atmosphere after Marcus Rashford’s winner 27 seconds from the end meant Manchester United overtook West Ham to claim fourth place.
It meant the interim manager had claimed back-to-back wins for the first time, 10 games into his tenure, and given the reported unrest surrounding the club due to unconvincing form and inconsistent results Rangnick was content.
“The atmosphere [in the dressing room] is amazing,” he said. “Quite rightly, the boys were celebrating. They know what a massive win this was. This was an extremely emotional game and an extremely emotional moment.
“If you score in the last seconds of the game and there is no time for the other team to reply: knowing this was extremely emotional.
“Thank you to the [fans] – the way they supported the team all through the game, they pushed us and carried us through the game. It was amazing. Since I arrived, it was by far the best atmosphere in the stadium.”
Given how late the winner came, Rangnick was asked if there might now be “Ralfy Time” as there was once “Fergie Time”. “I don’t know how long Fergie Time was. Was that the last five minutes? I wouldn’t mind if that happened,” he said. “But we would also like to have more games like Brentford when we were 3-0 up [United won 3-1]. But if you score in the last seconds the big advantage is there is no time for the team to reply.”
The winning goal was Rashford’s second in consecutive games and Rangnick praised the England striker. He said: “He’s one of the top strikers in England – we know the qualities he has. He has almost everything a modern striker needs: pace, skill, the size and physicality.
“In the end it’s all about confidence for strikers and I’m pretty sure those two goals will have raised the level of confidence with Marcus and now it’s about taking steps, it’s about continuity. I think he can play a very important role for the rest of the season for us.”
Rashford said: “It is an important goal and [to score so] late on is an amazing feeling. We have to use that winning feeling.”
Next up are Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fourth round. “We have high ambitions in the Cup,” said Rangnick. “We know in all of these games we have to perform on a high level.”
David Moyes was unhappy at how his team conceded. “I’m pissed off with that result for sure,” West Ham’s manager said. “We completely switched off.”
