Man United end Watford perfect run
Arsenal on the rise under Emery as Newcastle lose again
WATFORD, United Kingdom, Sept 15, (Agencies): Manchester United punctured Watford’s bubble on Saturday, withstanding late pressure from the surprise early Premier League pacesetters to win 2-1 and relieve the pressure on beleaguered manager Jose Mourinho.
United have endured a miserable start to the season, losing two of their first four matches and slipping well off the searing pace set by Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford themselves.
But two goals in three first-half minutes from in-form Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling gave them valuable breathing space at half-time and ultimately paved the way to a victory that ended Watford’s perfect record.
Rocked by United’s strong finish to the first half, Watford pulled a goal back midway through the second period
Zaha
under the 46-year-old Spaniard, who himself put in a fair shift while patrolling his technical area with the kind of high-intensity effort he wants from his players out on the pitch. Following further supporter protests against the Newcastle owner Mike Ashley outside the ground prior to kick-off, Benitez’s side failed to make the most of their early dominance.
Once again, Gunners goalkeeper Petr Cech looked ill at ease with the ball at his feet in his new ‘sweeper-keeper’ role, with questions very much remaining over the Arsenal skipper’s ability to play out from the back.
In mitigation, Cech saved well from Jacob Murphy’s header midway through the first half, but the home team fell away and were undone by two fine finishes shortly after the interval.
Xhaka broke the deadlock with a sublime 49th-minute free-kick which found the top corner after Federico Fernandez had fouled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 25 yards from goal.
Huddersfield 0, Palace 1 Wilfried Zaha underlined his importance to Crystal Palace by scoring the only goal in their 1-0 win at Huddersfield Town on Saturday, a result that stemmed their three-match losing run in the Premier League.
Palace almost always lose, and seldom win, when Zaha is absent and they relied on another brilliant solo effort from the inspirational Ivorian, who was returning to the team after injury.
Against the run of play, Zaha broke through on 38 minutes, picking up the ball 40 metres out and jinking through two defenders before firing an unstoppable shot past the keeper.
Huddersfield were unlucky not to take at least a point, with Aaron Mooy hitting the post, but have struggled in front of goal this season and have now gone five home games without a goal – their worst run since going six in 1972.
Zaha denied Palace were too reliant on him, saying: “We are a team. Without them I wouldn’t be able to do what I do. If I manage to score for them, I do for the team.” The goal was his eighth in 10 Premier League games – as many as he scored in his previous 44.
Bournemouth 4, Leicester 2 Ryan Fraser scored twice as Bournemouth stunned Leicester City with a 4-2 victory at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday. Fraser produced a beautiful curling shot in the 19th minute to put Eddie Howe’s side ahead and then doubled the advantage 18 minute later with a left-foot drive.
Josh King then made it 3-0 with a 41st-minute penalty after Ricardo Pereira was ruled to have handled in the box.
Leicester defender Wes Morgan was sent off for a second yellow card in the 69th minute and nine minutes from the end Fraser set up Adam Smith for the fourth. The visitors enjoyed a late flurry with James Maddison’s 88th minute penalty and Marc Albrighton’s header a minute later.