Mourinho praises ‘fantastic’ Rashford ROUND-UP
JOSE Mourinho hailed a “fantastic” performance from Marcus Rashford as Manchester United blew the Premier League title race wide open with a 2-0 victory over leaders Chelsea.
Goals at the start of either half from Rashford and Ander Herrera condemned Mourinho’s former side to their second defeat in four games.
The Blues’ lead over secondplaced Tottenham is now down to four points with six games remaining, while United boosted their own hopes of reaching the top four by extending their unbeaten league run to 22 games.
Mourinho said of Rashford: “He played fantastically well, I think he did also a very good game at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup.
“Today he scored and it was at the beginning of the match which gave the team confidence and stability. The kid played fantastically well, but everybody fought and did what they had to do.”
Elsewhere yesterday, Liverpool edged out West Brom 1-0 thanks to Roberto Firmino’s goal on the stroke of half-time.
On Saturday, Tottenham made it seven top-flight wins in succession for the first time since 1967 with a 4-0 win over Bournemouth.
The game was essentially won in a three-minute period in the first half in which Mousa Dembele fired Spurs ahead from close range following a corner before Son Heung-min doubled the lead with a darting run and neat finish.
Harry Kane, and Vincent Janssen also scored.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s superb strike sealed a first Premier League win in six games for Stoke City as Mark Hughes’ men proved too strong for relegation-threatened Hull, 3-1.
Meanwhile, substitute Fabio Borini scored a 90th-minute equaliser as Sunderland drew 2-2 with West Ham to keep their faint hopes of Premier League survival alive.
Andre Ayew opened the scoring for the Hammers. But Sunderland finally broke their scoring duck, with Wahbi Khazri’s corner flying straight in for the Black Cats’ first goal in more than 11-and-a-half hours.
Crystal Palace put further daylight between themselves and the relegation zone after coming from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw with Leicester.
Goals from Robert Huth and Jamie Vardy put the Foxes in charge, but Yohan Cabaye and Christian Benteke ensured a share of the spoils as Palace moved seven points clear of the drop zone.
Burnley remain without an away victory in the league this season after losing 3-1 at Everton. Wales’ Sam Vokes got the Clarets’ goal.