Manchester United fights back to beat West Ham 3-1 before 2,000 fans

AP , Saturday 5 Dec 2020

Fans were allowed to return to British soccer grounds this week at the end of a second national lockdown

Manchester United
Manchester United's English striker Marcus Rashford (2R) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Manchester United's Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester United at The London Stadium, in east London on December 5, 2020. Photo: AFP

Manchester United scored three goals in 13 minutes in a brilliant second-half comeback to beat West Ham 3-1 Saturday in the first Premier League match with fans in attendance since the coronavirus outbreak in March.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime in front of 2,000 fans at the Olympic Stadium, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer introduced substitutes Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, and they changed the game.

Paul Pogba ran onto a pass from Fernandes and curled a long-range shot into the corner in the 65th minute, before smart buildup play involving Fernandes ended in Mason Greenwood controlling a left-wing cross and driving home a finish in the 68th.

Rashford then ran onto Juan Mata's through-ball and chipped the goalkeeper for the third goal in the 78th.

West Ham went ahead through Tomas Soucek at a corner in the 38th and should have been leading by a bigger margin at halftime.

Fans were allowed to return to British soccer grounds this week at the end of a second national lockdown.

England is the first of the major soccer nations to allow supporters back into football games during COVID-19's second wave.

Fans, wearing face masks, were spread out in the lower and middle tiers of the Olympic Stadium.

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