City still unbeaten but Man U struggles

ROMELU Lukaku has ended a run of 78 days without scoring for Manchester United and helped his side salvage a 2-2 draw at Southampton after they had fallen behind to two excellent strikes in the English Premier League.

United’s rival Manchester City overcame a spirited Bournemouth side 3-1 to maintain its unbeaten streak and extend its lead at the top of the Premier League to five points.

Crystal Palace beat Burnley 2-0 to end a run of eight matches without a win and there were victories for Leicester City, West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion.

The only stalemate of the day came at St Mary’s Stadium where Southampton’s Stuart Armstrong fired an unstoppable shot past David de Gea after 13 minutes. The United goalkeeper was beaten again shortly after by a beautiful free kick by Cedric Soares which curled into the top corner.

If Saints fans were concerned about letting another two-goal lead slip like they did last week against Fulham, they were right to be worried as United quickly hit back through Lukaku who was set up by Marcus Rashford.

The goal was the Belgian’s first for his club in all competitions since the middle of September.

Ander Herrera equalised before halftime to bring United fully back into the contest but the match ended in a draw, in a result that will not please either manager much.

Jose Mourinho’s side is now 16 points behind leader City.

Palace leapt above Huddersfield in the standings by beating Burnley at Selhurst Park to lift the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson.

Strikes in each half from James McArthur and Andros Townsend were Palace’s first goals from open play at home all season.