Solskjaer targeting third-place finish for Man Utd after 'special' Martial hat-trick

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has warned there is more to come from his Manchester United as they target a third place finish after beating Sheffield United.

Man Utd moved to within two points of Chelsea in fourth after a dominant display at Old Trafford thanks to an Anthony Martial hat-trick.

And while Solskjaer was happy with his side’s performance, he thinks there is still room for improvement and thought they should have scored more.

“At times it was very, very good football we could and should have scored more goals to put the game to bed before half time,” Solskjaer said. “It’s always worrying going into half time knowing you should have scored [more] goals the way we controlled the game, pressed and stopped them playing.

“I’m very happy with it but there is still more to come and we shouldn’t be 100 per cent happy with it.”

The win means Man Utd are now six points off third-placed Leicester, with a trip to the King Power to come before the end of the season - and Solskjaer isn’t ruling out United finishing third.

“I have never said fourth is our aim. We want to win, we want to go up to third, of course we want to,” he said. “Hopefully we can count the points and only have two teams ahead of us at the end.”

Martial shone in the match, which was the first behind-closed-doors fixture at Old Trafford, and while everyone raved about his third - which was a lovely chip past Simon Moore - Solskjaer was more impressed with the Frenchman’s movement for the first goal.

“The third goal was a great goal. But for me the first and the second were better. He’s in the box, ready to go. We have worked on that, getting in the box in that situation more often,” Solskjaer said.

“At the near post he showed composure and I think, as I said, the first goal was vital the way he turns and gets himself into a position to score from Marcus' cross. [I'm] very pleased with that. 

“He’s getting more and more into those position he could have had one at Spurs  - a great turn and finish and a great save, he’s in good form.”

The hat-trick was Martial's first in senior football as well as the first scored by a Man Utd player since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Robin van Persie was the last Man Utd player to fire three goals in one match, and Martial says he hopes Wednesday's hat-trick is a sign of things to come.

“It's special for me because it's my first one and I hope it's not the last one,” Martial told Sky Sports.

“It was a long time with nobody scoring three goals [for Manchester United].

“It was an important win against a team who are just behind us, so it is important for us to keep going and win the next one.”