Lukaku downs Chelsea, as Kane grabs late winner

ROMELU Lukaku broke his barren run against top six Premier League opposition and provided the winner for Jesse Lingard as Manchester United came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Traf-ford.Victory against his former club was particularly sweet for Jose Mourinho as he got one over on Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, but more importantly moves United back above Liverpool into second place in the Premier League.

Defeat allied to Tottenham Hotspur’s late win earlier in the day at Crystal Palace sees Chelsea slip to fifth.The visitors enjoyed the better of the first period but failed to build on Willian’s 32nd minute opener. Lukaku levelled seven minutes later from close range and then crossed for substitute Lingard to head home as a ruthless United took full advantage of their limited chances.

The spectre of another fiery clash between Mourinho and Conte, who have publicly bickered in recent months, hogged the headlines before kickoff, but there was a peace offering when the pair shook hands before the action got underway.

Mourinho recalled Paul Pogba to his starting XI after dropping the £89 million midfielder for Wednesday’s stalemate at Sevilla in the Champions League.But it was one of Conte’s two changes from his side’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona in midweek who nearly made an immediate impact.

Alvaro Morata started for the first time in six weeks, but saw his side-footed volley from Marcos Alonso’s driven cross come back off the bar just four minutes in.

Chelsea dominated possession in the opening quarter, but much like they did to Barcelona on Tuesday with limited time on the ball, United restricted them to few other clear-cut chances.

United had offered little going forward themselves until Anthony Martial’s low cross picked out Alexis Sanchez inside the area.

However, the Chilean is still waiting for his first big moment since joining United last month as he poked the ball tamely into the arms of Thibaut Courtois. Meanwhile, Harry Kane struck late to secure Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace yesterday that moved Mauricio Pochettino’s side into the top four immediately ahead of Chelsea’s visit to Manchester United.

Spurs appeared set for disappointment after struggling to break down a Crystal Palace fighting to move clear of the relegation places.

But Kane finally found the breakthrough on 88 minutes, meeting Christian Eriksen’s corner at the far post and directing a header past goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey who should have done better after getting a firm hand to the ball.

“We left that very late. I thought it weren’t going to be our day, because we had a few chances, especially me...but we kept going until the end and eventually got our rewards,” Kane said after netting his 35th goal of the season.

The win pushed Pochettino’s men two points above Chelsea and while they knew the positions could be reversed by the end of the day, they could be satisfied they had increased the pressure on Antonio Conte’s side.

Pochettino made 10 changes to the side that drew with Rochdale in the FA Cup seven days previously but the more significant fact was that his line-up showed just one change to the team that drew at Juventus in the Champions League.

The withdrawal of Jan Vertonghen after the centre-back picked up a knock in training the day before the game meant Eric Dier slotted in alongside Davinson Sanchez in central defence in an otherwise familiar Spurs line-up.

By contrast, Hodgson’s hand was forced by the absence of 12 senior players, leaving the Crystal Palace manager with few options.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 20, came in at right-back for his senior debut and the depth of the home side’s injury problems was reflected on the substitutes’ bench where four of the seven replacements had yet to make a Premier League appearance for the club.

The makeshift nature of the Palace line-up was reflected in a disjointed start that could have seen Tottenham three up inside 16 minutes had the visitors made more of a succession of defensive errors.

. . . Former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku scored and then created the winning goal against his old team as Manchester United beat the Blues 2-1 in the English Premiership at Old Trafford yesterday. The win put United back in second place in the Premier League, still 13 points behind neighbours Manchester City, while Chelsea dropped below Tottenham into fifth place.