Man Utd win, Everton ride luck for 2-0 victory
TOTTENHAM: Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League title ambitions suffered a major blow as Marcus Rashford’s goal gave Manchester United a 1-0 victory at Wembley yesterday to maintain caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s perfect start.
Rashford beat Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris from a tight angle in the 44th minute as rejuvenated United claimed a sixth win from six matches since former striker Solskjaer stepped in following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
United’s Spanish keeper David De Gea produced a series of superb saves to deny Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Toby Alderweireld after the break as United hung on for a first away league win against Tottenham since 2012.
Solskjaer’s side remained in sixth spot but are now level on 41 points with Arsenal while Tottenham have 48 points in third place, nine behind leaders Liverpool and two behind champions Manchester City who face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
In a wide-open first half full of attacking football, Kane had a goal disallowed for the hosts but United, with Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Rashford forming a rapid attacking trio, were dangerous every time they broke forward.
The first goal always looked like being vital and it arrived for United just before the break when Rashford made ground down the right and with no other option he drove into area and fired a shot that Lloris got a firm hand to but could not keep out of the net.
Lloris redeemed himself with two saves from Paul Pogba early in the second half but after that it was all about the excellence of De Gea as Spurs, roared on by the majority of the 80,000 Wembley crowd, desperately sought an equaliser. First he saved Kane’s close-range header, then blocked Alli’s shot with his legs after the midfielder went through one-on-one, before making a stunning reaction save to deny Toby Alderweireld’s near-post flick. Kane’s free kick was saved acrobatically by De Gea and with five minutes remaining he saw another goalbound effort cannon off the shins of the Spaniard.
Earlier, Everton avoided a third consecutive Premier League home defeat as Kurt Zouma’s header and a late goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin earned them a flattering 2-0 victory against Bournemouth at a rainy Goodison Park yesterday.
There were grumblings of discontent from the home fans as Everton were outplayed before the break but Marco Silva’s side improved in the second half to move back into the top half of the table.
Eddie Howe’s eye-catching Bournemouth side dominated the opening 25 minutes and should have been ahead with young Welsh striker David Brooks a thorn in the Everton defence. Brooks struck a shot against the base of the post in the 14th minute after being played in by Junior Stanislas while Stanislas himself nearly embarrassed England keeper Jordan Pickford with a free kick.
Bournemouth also had two penalty shouts ignored before Everton gradually roused themselves, with defender Michael Keane heading against the crossbar shortly before halftime. The hosts took the lead with only their second effort on target in the 61st minute. Lucas Digne did well to keep a ball in play and his hoisted cross was headed home powerfully by defender Zouma for his first Everton goal since joining on loan from Chelsea.
Everton’s second in stoppage time, struck home excellently by Calvert-Lewin after great work by Ademola Lookman, was harsh on Bournemouth who will wonder how they went home unrewarded. Bournemouth, who had 16 goal atempts, remained in 12th spot with 27 points from 22 games, nine points above the bottom three while Everton moved into 10th spot on 30 points. —Reuters