London (AFP)

Manchester United, thanks to a hat-trick from Anthony Martial, and Wolverhampton resumed their ease in the race for Europe on Wednesday by beating Sheffield United (3-0) and Bournemouth (1-0) respectively for the 31st day of Premier League.

. Anthony Martial wears Manchester

The Red Devils did an excellent job by dismissing their neighbor and competitor for Europe thanks to the sense of purpose of the French center-forward.

They keep their 5th place with 49 points, 5 better than the Blades.

For this first closed-door match at Old Trafford and his first hat-trick in pro, Martial achieved a small feat.

We have to go back to Robin van Persie in 2013, during a title match against Aston Villa, to find a trace of a Red Devil scoring a hat-trick in the Premier League.

From the 7th minute, Martial found himself at the reception of a tense center from Marcus Rashford at the far post, which he had cut well, taking advantage of a very loose defense of the Blades (1-0, 7th).

Just before the break, he doubled the stake, again on a touch of the ball, by converting a center close to the ground by Aaron Wan-Bissaka (2-0, 44th).

He finished his work with a bullet stuck at the corner of six meters at the conclusion of an attack which had involved Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.

Even if Sheffield has struggled since the recovery, with a point in three games without scoring a goal, the men of Ole Gunnar Soslkjaer have confirmed that they are on a clearly ascending slope.

While they remain on 10 wins and 3 draws in their last 13 games, they displayed an impressive attack potential, the alchemy between their attacking talents seems to work.

Paul Pogba deserves a special mention for his first tenure since the end of September.

The midfielder played 80 minutes and created 4 clear chances, the best total of this match.

Provisionally two points from Chelsea, who will receive Manchester City on Thursday, United becomes a serious top 4 candidate who directly qualifies for the Champions League.

. Wolverhampton never gives up

The 1-0 success against relegationable Bournemouth may seem small, but the Wolves remain in ambush for a place in Europe, and maybe even in C1.

Preceded only at goal difference by ManU (+17 against +10), the men of Nuno Espirito Santo turned to their infernal duo Adama Traoré-Raul Jimenez.

The pattern of overflow then center of the Spaniard for the head of the Mexican, repeated at the hour of play (1-0, 60th), has already often done damage, since it is the 10th goal of the tandem.

For the rest, it's a game to forget for Wolverhampton, who only had two strikes.

Bournemouth sees him, Aston Villa join him in number of points (27), even if he remains 18th ahead of the Villans.

In the last match, which started at 7:00 p.m., Everton pushed even more Norwich (0-1), the last one and for whom the maintenance mission now seems impossible.

© 2020 AFP