Man City stunned by Palace
LONDON: Manchester City stumbled to the most unexpected defeat of the English Premier League season yesterday before neighbour Manchester United began its brave new world under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a glorious reminder of longforgotten attacking swagger.
After City’s sensational 32 reverse against Crystal Palace at its Etihad fortress, United seemed liberated and reenergised after Jose Mourinho’s midweek sacking as it romped to a 51 win at Cardiff City — the first time it has hit five in the league since the final match of the golden Alex Ferguson era in 2013.
A remarkable 30m thunderbolt from Andros Townsend adorned Palace’s comeback from a goal down in the rain as Pep Guardiola’s champion City had its 100% league home record this season shattered.
So, what recently looked like an imperious title defence now looks problematic as City lies four points behind leader Liverpool, which had thrown down the gauntlet with a 20 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
There was more good news for the Reds as fourthplaced Chelsea also squandered its unbeaten home record with a 10 defeat by Leicester City.
Arsenal kept up its pursuit in fifth, thanks to a double from PierreEmerick Aubameyang in a 31 home win over Burnley that put the Gabonese striker top of the league’s goalscoring charts.
After 18 matches, Liverpool is now the only unbeaten side left in England’s top four divisions on 48 points, with City on 44 and Tottenham Hotspur, which was to visit Everton this morning, third on 39. Chelsea and Arsenal both have 37, while United is on 29.
Manchester City, which had lost its season’s unbeaten record at Chelsea two weeks ago, seemed predictably dominant when striding into a firsthalf lead through Ilkay Gundogan.
But Palace responded quickly with a Jeffrey Schlupp strike and, three minutes later, a wondrous volley from 30m from mercurial England international Townsend, an early contender for goal of the season.
Luka Milivojevic put the visiting side further clear with a penalty after the break before Palace survived a late onslaught in which Kevin De Bruyne scored five minutes from time.
Marcus Rashford’s free kick put Manchester United ahead and further goals before halftime from Ander Herrera and Anthony Martial — after a dazzling passing interchange — and a secondhalf double from Jesse Lingard made it a perfect start for Solskjaer.
United, with Paul Pogba back in the fold, poured forward in a freespirited manner rarely seen under Mourinho as Solskjaer lifted the gloom of United’s worst start in 28 years.
Chelsea’s loss at Stamford Bridge seemed almost as unlikely as Manchester City’s with Leicester facing the prospect of a third straight defeat but Jamie Vardy’s firsttime finish soon after the break brought muchneeded relief for the Foxes’ manager Claude Puel.
At the Emirates Stadium, Aubameyang took his tally of league goals to 12 with his double in the win over Burnle.
Fulham earned a goalless draw at Newcastle United but remained bottom of the table on 10 points alongside Huddersfield Town, which was beaten 31 by a Southampton side that look rejuvenated under new Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuettl.
Watford moved into seventh place with a 20 win at West Ham United, thanks to goals from Troy Deeney and Gerard Deulofeu. — Reuters