United 1 Watford 0

A touch of class from Juan Mata was enough to secure three points from a tight game against Watford.

With a chilly wind swirling around Old Trafford, the Reds often struggled to come to terms with the conditions, while Watford's tough pressing game often threatened to bring the visitors at least a share of the points.  They certainly carved out the best chances in the first half, De Gea twice saving smartly from Ighalo, who also saw another effort go wide.

United were enjoying much of the possession but our attacking play was fitful until midway through the second half when a sustained period of pressure almost brought results.  Mata drew a fine save from Gomes and Rashford's cross failed agonisingly to find a colleague in the area.

Admittedly, Watford still carried a threat and might still have grabbed a vital goal themselves when Prodl's header went narrowly wide of the United post.  However, it was the Reds who secured victory with only seven minutes left.  After Martial had been fouled just outside the area, captain for the night Mata stepped up and curled a sublime free kick past Gomes.

It was, in truth, more of a hard-fought victory than United at their attacking best.  Few players performed at the peak, although Varela had another fine game at right back.  Fosu-Mensah had his first start in central defence and, although he made some errors, he made several timely interventions.  Given that it was one of those games in which the long-term viability of Blind as a central defender was once again called into question, he frequently had to.

With Arsenal, Spurs and city all losing, this was a vital three points for the Reds, however, who suddenly look again capable of mounting a challenge for Champions League qualification.