Man U slips further behind Man City and Liverpool
LONDON — After a third loss in seven English Premier League soccer games so far, Jose Mourinho was quick to apportion blame for Manchester United’s collapse at West Ham.
While the moans about refereeing decisions were predictable after the 3-1 loss on Saturday, holding the media partly responsible was a fresher excuse to pour scorn on another ineffective display by Anthony Martial.
Leaving out forward Alexis Sanchez and starting Martial was portrayed by Mourinho as bowing to public demands. It’s a decision Mourinho suggested he regretted.
“Something that you are asking for a long, long, long, long time (is) to play Martial,” Mourinho told reporters. “I left Alexis out and I think that Martial is not a player very, very, very focused on his defensive duties and to play him as a second striker and trying just to cover the area of (Declan) Rice would be much easier for him.”
United was ragged from the start at Olympic Stadium, conceding after five minutes when
Felipe Anderson flicked in Pablo Zabaleta’s cross.
The damage worsened just before halftime when Andriy Yarmolenko’s shot took a heavy deflection off Victor Lindelof to head in the opposite direction past goalkeeper David De Gea.
United did pull one back in the 71st when substitute Marcus Rashford turned in Luke Shaw’s corner with his back to goal.
But United’s defence was cut through with ease when Mark Noble passed to Marko Arnautovic, who struck past De Gea.
Less than two months into the campaign, United’s hopes of a first Premier League title since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 are already fading.
With 10 points from seven games, Mourinho has matched the club’s previous worst Premier League start under Ferguson’s successor, David Moyes.
Defending champion Manchester City and Liverpool are already nine points in front of 10th-placed United.
There was a quartet of 2-0 victories on Saturday as City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Leicester and Wolverhampton triumphed.