The Malta Independent on Sunday

Mourinho relieved after gutsy Man U rally to beat Newcastle

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Just when Jose Mourinho needed it most, Manchester United dug deep to pull off a gutsy victory for its under-fire manager.

Mourinho, facing mounting speculatio­n he'll be fired because of poor results and frequent criticism of his players, was a picture of abject misery on the touchline as United went 2-0 down against Newcastle after only 10 minutes of their English Premier League match at Old Trafford on Saturday.

An animated Mourinho reacted with fury, screaming at his players and gesticulat­ing wildly.

In a five-minute span in the second half, United equalized. The winner came in the 90th minute, when substitute Alexis Sanchez headed home and a much-relieved United ended a run of four matches without a win in all competitio­ns.

Mourinho lashed out at his detractors.

"As a friend of mine was saying to me this morning, if tomorrow it rains in London it is my fault," Mourinho said. "If there is some difficulti­es with the agreements of Brexit, it is my fault.

"I think a lot of wickedness, and clear man-hunting, in football is too much. It is my life. It is a life I love, and since I was a kid I work for this."

Meanwhile, Eric Dier led third-place Tottenham past Cardiff 1-0, and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored a spectacula­r goal to help Everton defeat Leicester 21.

Bournemout­h won at Watford 4-0, Wolverhamp­ton won at Crystal Palace 1-0, and Hud- dersfield moved off the bottom of the standings by drawing at Burnley 1-1.

Leader Manchester City and second-place Liverpool meet on Sunday, the same day as Chelsea faces Southampto­n, and Arsenal plays London rival Fulham.

UNITED PREVAIL

Newcastle, winless in seven previous league outings, could scarcely believe its luck at Old Trafford as wing back Kenedy, a former player of Mourinho's during his second spell at Chelsea, sprinted through the middle of the defense to open the scoring.

Then, in the 10th minute, there was a stunned silence among the United home fans when United's sleepy defense allowed Yoshinori Muto to turn easily in the penalty area and beat goalkeeper David de Gea with a low shot.

An embarrasse­d Eric Bailly took on the role of United fall guy when Mourinho hauled off the Ivory Coast center half after only 19 minutes and replaced him with Spain midfielder Juan Mata.

Mata, though, pulled a goal back when he curled in a free kick in the 70th and, five minutes later, Anthony Martial cut inside after swapping passes with Paul Pogba to equalize with a venomous low shot.

Sanchez completed the fightback.

"Marcus Rashford was sad on the pitch, Scott McTominay was scared on the pitch," Mourinho said of the way two of his young players performed in the first half. "Even older players commit mistakes that are not normal.

"At halftime we had a good conversati­on. We didn't promise that we would win the match. We promised we would give absolutely everything without any fear, without any pressure, just the pressure of giving everything, and of course they gave everything. We fought so much."

SIGURDSSON STUNNER

Iceland playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson produced a contender for goal of the season for Everton. Sigurdsson collected Idrissa Gueye's pass before a quick turn away from Leicester's James Maddison allowed him to take a touch and unleash a bullet from 25 yards into the top corner of the net.

Everton's cause was helped when Leicester captain Wes Morgan was sent off.

DIER LIFTS SPURS

England midfielder Dier struck his first club goal in 18 months as Tottenham made it three victories in as many league matches.

Cardiff was reduced to 10 when Joe Ralls was sent off in the 58th minute at Wembley Stadium.

OTHER GAMES

Norway striker Joshua King scored two goals and set up another to inspire Bournemout­h at Watford, another team to play with 10 after Christian Kabasele was sent off in the 33rd minute.

Huddersfie­ld rallied to draw with Burnley for only its third point.

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