Fernandes stars as United brush aside Watford
MANCHESTER: Bruno Fernandes opened his goalscoring account at Manchester United on Sunday as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side climbed to fifth place in the Premier League table with a 3-0 win against lowly Watford.
United have struggled for consistency all season but the victory at Old Trafford lifts them to 41 points, just three behind fourthplaced Chelsea.
Midfielder Fernandes, bought by Solskjaer last month to add creativity and drive to United’s midfield, scored from the penalty spot shortly before half-time and Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood also found the net.
While United are looking upwards, Nigel Pearson’s Watford are in deep trouble, just one place off the bottom of the table after taking just two points from their past five games.
As it stands, fifth place could be enough to earn a Champions League spot because secondplaced Manchester City have been banned from Europe’s elite competition for two seasons, pending an appeal. United, who beat top-four rivals Chelsea on Monday, took the lead three minutes before the interval with their first Premier League goal at Old Trafford since January 11.
Ben Foster pulled down Fernandes in the box and Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot. The Portuguese midfielder picked himself up to convert the penalty.
Watford thought they were level shortly after half-time only to see Troy Deeney’s goal ruled out by VAR for a handball by Craig Dawson. The home side doubled their lead just before the hour mark. Foster saved Martial’s initial shot but the ball came back to the French forward and he lofted the ball over the head of the goalkeeper and into the net from a tight angle. Greenwood found some space and fired home via the crossbar to put United 3-0 up with 15 minutes remaining.
WOLVES WIN
Diogo Jota struck twice as Wolverhampton Wanderers pushed Norwich City deeper towards the drop with a 3-0 win over the Premier League’s bottom club at Molineux on Sunday. The in-form Portuguese forward, who scored a hat-trick in Wolves’s 4-0 win over Espanyol in the Europa League on Thursday, put his side ahead, in the 19th minute, with a left-foot finish after good work from Matt Doherty.
Jota doubled Wolves’ advantage from close range after Norwich had failed to clear a corner.
Norwich keeper Tim Krul produced an outstanding save on the stroke of halftime to push a Ruben Neves free kick against the bar as Wolves looked to put the game beyond Daniel Farke’s side.
The third goal came early in the second half with Mexican Raul Jimenez slotting home after a Jota drive had flown out off the post.
Norwich remained bottom on 18 points, seven points behind 17th-placed Aston Villa. Wolves are eighth on 39 points.