Sanchez nets on home debut
Alexis Sanchez’s first goal for Manchester United wrapped up a 2-0 victory against Huddersfield on a day when the Premier League clubs came together to mark the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.
Tuesday is the 60th anniversary of the tragedy which claimed 23 lives, including eight players, as Matt Busby’s side returned from a European Cup match at Red Star Belgrade.
Silence fell upon Old Trafford yesterday as those lost were remembered ahead of a match United won with goals from Romelu Lukaku and Sanchez, who sealed the victory on his home debut.
Huddersfield struggled to create clearcut chances in their first league trip to Old Trafford since March 1972 but dug deep in the first half to frustrate the hosts.
United struggled for a creative spark but went up a gear after halftime, going ahead within 10 minutes of the restart when Lukaku smartly turned home a cross from Juan Mata.
Sanchez, who joined United from Arsenal, won a penalty and saw it saved, only to turn home the rebound as United bounced back from a midweek loss at Tottenham, and extended Huddersfield’s winless Premier League run to eight. United are 13 points behind leader Manchester City, who were held by Burnley.
Substitutes Josh King and Lys Mousset struck second-half goals as in-form Bournemouth came from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1.
Struggling Stoke looked on course to make it seven points from nine under new manager Paul Lambert when Xherdan Shaqiri headed the visitors into a deserved early lead at Vitality Stadium.
But Bournemouth battled back to score twice in the second half to extend the club’s record unbeaten run to seven games and send Stoke back into the relegation zone.
King, who had earlier been booked for a dive while under pressure from Kurt Zouma, levelled the contest following a defensive mixup with 20 minutes to go. Zouma collided with teammate Joe Allen just inside Stoke’s 18-yard box and the ball broke kindly for King to stroke home his first goal since November.
Bournemouth’s first away win of the league came at Stoke in October, and the south-coast completed a double over Stoke by claiming the winner in the 79th. Winger Ibe swung over a free kick from the right and Mousset climbed unmarked to nod home his first Premier League goal.
Manager Pep Guardiola absolved Raheem Sterling of the blame for Manchester City’s fail- ure to win at Burnley.
Sterling side-footed wide in front of an open goal in the second half when City were leading through Danilo’s strike on Saturday. Burnley made the most of the reprieve, with Johann Berg Gudmundsson snatching a 1-1 draw in the 82nd minute as City dropped points for only the fourth time in the English Premier League.
It allowed second-place Manchester United to close the gap on Guardiola’s side by beating Huddersfield 2-0, but only to 13 points with 12 games remaining.
‘‘It is football,’’ Guardiola said. ‘‘Next day [Sterling] is going to score a goal. Raheem scored against Southampton in the 96th minute [in a 2-1 win in November]. Today he missed one chance. That can happen.’’
Southampton moved out of the relegation zone and left West Bromwich Albion in deeper trouble in last place by winning 3-2 at the Hawthorns. Goals from Mario Lemina and Jack Stephens turned the game around for Southampton in the final five minutes of the first half after Ahmed Hegazi’s opener.
James Ward-Prowse sealed a 3-2 victory with a freekick in the second half, then Salomon Rondon pulled a goal back with a header in the 72nd minute.
West Ham’s week of turmoil ended with a 3-1 loss at Brighton.