Pogba on target in return for Man Utd
PAUL Pogba marked his comeback with a goal and an assist as Manchester United fought back to beat Newcastle United 4-1 on Saturday night and stay on Manchester City’s tail.
Sidelined since mid-September by a hamstring injury, France midfielder Pogba made a decisive return as Jose Mourinho’s side restored the eightpoint gap that separates it from Premier League leader City.
Pep Guardiola’s City had earlier prevailed 2-0 at Leicester City and there were also wins for champion Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, who beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the north London derby.
United remains second, a point above Chelsea, who climbed above Tottenham into third courtesy of a 4-0 success at West Bromwich Albion.
In addition to Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic received a rapturous reception when he came on as a substitute following his recovery from a knee injury.
A slip by Victor Lindelof enabled Dwight Gayle to put Newcastle ahead in the 14th minute with the first league goal United had conceded at Old Trafford since April. But Pogba’s feathery cross teed up Anthony Martial to head in a 37th-minute equaliser and after Chris Smalling had headed the hosts in front, Pogba tapped in Marcus Rashford’s cushioned header early in the second half.
Romelu Lukaku added a fourth, swapping passes with Juan Mata and thrashing home to end a seven-game goal drought.
At Leicester, Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne struck fine goals as ruthless Manchester City registered a 16th successive win in all competitions.
Jesus finished off a slick move shortly before halftime and De Bruyne made it 2-0 early in the second half with a blistering left-foot shot into the topleft corner. “It is complicated to defend against Leicester, but we did really well. We did not concede one chance in 90 minutes,” City manager Guardiola said.
“We continue with our good rhythm in terms of points and the way we play.” City captain Vincent Kompany made his first league start since August following his latest calf injury.
But in a major blow for the visitors, Guardiola said fellow centre-back John Stones (hamstring) was facing “four to six weeks” out after being forced off in the first half.