Pogba lifts Man United
LONDON: Paul Pogba’s calm nerves and David De Gea’s quick reflexes kept Manchester United in the hunt for a topfour finish in the Premier League yesterday.
Pogba scored two penalties to give United a 21 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford, the second coming shortly after De Gea had denied West Ham a potential winner by palming away a header from Michail Antonio with a superb onehanded save.
It was a muchneeded win for United, but it was not a convincing performance as the host side was outplayed for large spells and benefited from two disputed refereeing decisions. West Ham had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half before the hosts were awarded a soft penalty as Robert Snodgrass was judged to have fouled Juan Mata when the two collided in the area.
‘‘We got away with it, to put it that way,’’ United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.
The win ended a run of four losses in five games in all competitions for United and kept Solskjaer’s team two points behind fourthplaced Chelsea.
Tottenham remained three points ahead of United in third place by beating already relegated Huddersfield 40, with Lucas Moura scoring a hattrick.
At the other end of the table, Burnley and Southampton took big steps toward avoiding relegation with crucial victories, while Cardiff inched closer to the drop after a third straight loss.
Chris Wood may well have secured another season in the top flight for Burnley by scoring both goals in a 20 home win over Cardiff, a result that leaves the Welsh club five points from safety in 18th place.
Burnley now looks safe on 39 points, 11 ahead of Cardiff, while Southampton boosted its chances of staying up by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 31.
Brighton, though, is still in trouble after being hammered 50 at home by Bournemouth to drop to 17th place.
Fulham, which has also been relegated with Huddersfield, earned its first win since January by beating Everton 20. — AP