Blue day for United, Mourinho as they get mauled

LONDON: Chelsea rudely welcomed back former manager Jose Mourinho as they thrashed Manchester United yesterday, while Manchester City limped to the top of the Premier League.

Pedro’s goal after just 30 seconds kickstarted Chelsea’s 4-0 hammering of United in their first meeting with Mourinho since he was fired by the club last season.

Gary Cahill, Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante also scored as the Blues made it 11 straight unbeaten against United in all competitions.

“It started badly after a few seconds,” Mourinho told Sky Sports. “You come with a strategy, you cannot concede a goal in the way we did.

“It is one of those days when you give the advantage to opponents by doing nothing. We made incredible defensive mistakes, individual mistakes and you pay for that.”

Manchester City, meanwhile, moved back atop the table despite a 1-1 draw with Southampton that left them winless in five games.

Much of the pre-match focus at Stamford Bridge was on the return of Mourinho, who took over United in the summer.

Pedro gave the hosts a dream start by beating two defenders for a long ball upfield, rounding keeper David de Gea and shooting into the open goal.

Cahill doubled the lead in the 21st minute after he was left alone in front of goal at a corner-kick and Hazard made it 3-0 early in the second half.

Kante then completed the rout by taking the ball some 30 yards from goal and beating several defenders before firing a shot into the corner.

The win lifts the Blues up to fourth place, while United stay seventh.

“I am pleased with the performance, we started well, moved the ball quickly, created chances to score the goal,” manager Antonio Conte said. “I see the commitment in training and the players deserve this.”

Manchester City’s recent struggles continued but they did enough to move above Arsenal and Liverpool on goal difference with all three on 20 points.

Kelechi Iheanacho came off the bench to score the equaliser after Nathan Redmond put Southampton in front at the Etihad Stadium.

“We are going to accept the situation: five games without winning because something happened,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “I have to discover the reason why and I am going to find that. “I have to help the team to achieve.” Redmond pounced on an errant backpass from City’s John Stones to open the scoring in the 27th minute.

Stones looked to have atoned moments later only to have his goal disallowed offside against Sergio Aguero.

Guardiola brought Iheanacho on at half-time and the move paid off when the striker scored from close range in the 55th minute.

“It’s a good result,” said Redmond, with Southampton one point behind United in eighth. “The mentality we have is that we want to get as many points from as many games as we can.

“We’ll take the point and take it as a positive.” - dpa