More misery for Mou
ENGLAND. — West Ham piled more pressure on Jose Mourinho with a 3-1 victory over Manchester United at the London Stadium.
Paul Pogba returned after his midweek spat with Mourinho, but it took just five minutes for things to unravel as record signing Felipe Anderson scored his first West Ham goal with a deft near-post flick.
A miserable first half for the visitors was compounded two minutes before the break when Andriy Yarmolenko’s shot took a wicked deflection off Victor Lindelof to double the Hammers’ lead.
Marcus Rashford halved the deficit just after the underwhelming Pogba had been substituted on 70 minutes, but Marko Arnautovic extinguished any hopes of a comeback with his fourth goal of the Sports Correspondent
Bulawayo City................................1 Ngezi Platinum Stars.....................0
BULAWAYO City coach, Bekithemba “Super” Ndlovu finally had a smile on his face as an own goal by Ngezi Platinum’s Keith Murera handed his side his first victory since taking over as head coach from Amini Soma Phiri nine matches ago.
The result put a dent on Ngezi’s title chase as rivals FC Platinum beat Dynamos to open a five point gap at the top with five games remaining.
The home side started off on high gear and were duly rewarded in the 11th minute when Murera tried to clear a cross by Humprey Ncube but the ball rolled into his nets.
City, who are second from bottom with 19 points, held on to the goal despite efforts by Ngezi to come back into the game.
Ngezi dominated the second half, virtually restricting City to their own season four minutes later. West Ham’s first home league victory since the final day of last season lifts them to 12th in the table. Manchester United drop to eighth - eight points off leaders Liverpool having played a game more - after equalling their worst start to a Premier League season.
All the talk ahead of kick-off concerned Pogba and Mourinho after a turbulent week off the pitch, but an industrious West Ham display laid Manchester United’s on-field troubles bare.
Mark Noble’s incisive through pass released Pablo Zabaleta, who was marginally offside, in behind Ashley Young, and the full-back’s low cross was brilliantly diverted past David de Gea by Anderson inside five minutes.
The visitors steadied after falling behind but attempts on goal were sporadic. Anthony Martial headed a Young cross wide from an offside position before a Romelu Lukaku header clipped the outside of the post midway through the first half. Just as had been the case against Everton and Chelsea, a resolute defensive display proved key for West Ham, who doubled their lead with a touch of fortune. Yarmolenko gathered the ball in the area, fashioned a yard of space to get a shot away and his effort struck Lindelof at close range before looping over the helpless De Gea.
A stunning point-blank save from Lukasz Fabianski to claw a Marouane Fellaini header off the line preserved West Ham’s two-goal lead on 64 minutes.
Six minutes later Mourinho withdrew the ineffective Pogba but United were on the board within 60 seconds as substitute EPL
Results & Fixtures
West Ham 3-1 Manchester United Arsenal 2-0 Watford Everton 3-0 Fulham Huddersfield 0-2 Tottenham Manchester City 2-0 Brighton & Hove Newcastle 0-2 Leicester City Wolverhampton 2-0 Southampton Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
Fixtures Today
Cardiff v Burnley 5pm Tomorrow Bournemouth v Crystal Palace Rashford brilliantly diverted a corner beyond Fabianski with a near-post flick.
But any momentum gained from that strike lasted just four minutes as Noble’s brilliant through ball dissected the Manchester United defence and released Arnautovic, who drilled a low shot past De Gea to wrap up the victory and pile more misery on Mourinho.
Manchester United lined up with four recognised central midfielders - including the returning Pogba - in their team, but it was West Ham’s captain who stole the limelight. Noble was the heartbeat of the latest improved Hammers performance but did so much more than leg-work in the middle of the park, as seen with his incisive assist for Arnautovic’s game-clinching strike. — Skysports the title fight, it Is crucial for his charges to show character by coming back into the game after falling behind.
“We had a frustrating afternoon as a team. After conceding a silly goal that we could have avoided, we failed to recover despite throwing at them (City) in the second half, we just couldn’t score.
“It is a worrying factor that we keep on losing to small teams, especially at this juncture of the title race but with five games, I believe its game on and there is all to play for,” said Ndiraya.