Mourinho makes a winning start
Jose Mourinho made a winning start to life as Tottenham manager as his new team beat West Ham 3-2 yesterday for their first away victory in the Premier League in more than 10 months.
Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane scored in a 13-minute span around halftime at the Olympic Stadium in London, with Tottenham having a spark to their play rarely seen in the final months of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign, which ended on Wednesday.
West Ham pulled goals back through substitute Michail Antonio in the 73rd and Angelo Ogbonna in injury time, but Tottenham did enough to earn a first away win in the league since beating Fulham on January 20.
Mourinho declared himself happy with his team’s winning start despite conceding two late goals. ‘‘The most important thing in the end was not to win 3 or 4-0 or play wonderful, but was to win – it doesn’t matter how,’’ Mourinho said.
Later, Liverpool maintained their eight-point lead by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 for their 12th win in 13 matches this campaign.
Like many times this season, the victory was sealed in the final minutes with Roberto Firmino grabbing the winner in the 85th minute.
‘‘When you finish the game on the up it’s OK,’’ Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said after his side was pushed at Selhurst Park.
‘‘It was a tough job to do but in the end I’m happy with the result because I know it’s not possible to be brilliant everyday.’’
Leicester stayed second after a 2-0 win at Brighton, with Jamie Vardy scoring for the fifth straight league game.
Vardy netted with a retaken penalty because of encroachment by home players, firing the ball past Socceroos keeper Mat Ryan to end Brighton’s streak of three successive home victories.
Arsenal dropped further off the top-four pace after a 2-2 draw against Southampton, with boos ringing around the Emirates stadium despite Alexandre Lacazette’s 96th-minute goal – his second equaliser of the game.
That result will pile more pressure on manager Unai Emery, who said: ‘‘I can understand how the supporters feel about the team and about me.’’
Manchester City returned to winning ways with a 2-1 success over Chelsea at Etihad Stadium, ending the London side’s run of six straight victories.
Manchester City remain nine points behind leaders Liverpool.
Wolverhampton Wanderers beat 10-man Bournemouth 2-1, Burnley won 3-0 at Watford with a goal from All Whites striker Chris Wood while Norwich compunded Everton’s woes with a 2-0 win at Goodison Park.
The Auckland Tuatara went down 6-1 to the Perth Heat yesterday afternoon, to lose their opening series of the season 3-1. Hitting problems continued for the Tuatara, with just two runs coming in this game at North Harbour Stadium and making a grand total of just 10 over this four-game series. By comparison, the Heat had 26 hits. Only Jared Walker from the United States and Kiwi Andrew Marck have looked good batting for the Tuatara during this series, but there must be hope in the clubhouse that the others will come right. The Tuatara’s run came in the sixth inning when they had the bases loaded and no outs. After the first two batters struck out, Max Brown was walked to bring in a run, but that was the one only one they got as Max Brown grounded out to third base.