Man U. romp opens post-Mourinho era

Jesse Lingard scored twice as Manchester United celebrated its first match under new coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a 5-1 rout at Cardiff in the English Premier League on Saturday.

Solskjaer took over Wednesday after Jose Mourinho was fired, and United responded by scoring five goals in an EPL match for the first time since May 2013.

“Football is easy if you’ve got good players,” Solskjaer said. “They are a great bunch of players and their quality is unbelievable.

“I arrived on Wednesday night and only had Thursday and Friday with the players. (Former United teammate) Wayne Rooney texted me and gave me some advice, so it must be down to him. He told me to make them play football, enjoy themselves, and be Manchester United.” Marcus Rashford needed only three minutes to give United the lead as he blasted home a free kick from 30 yards to spark a three-goal first half. Lingard added a fourth goal from the penalty spot after being fouled in the 57th, and the England forward struck again in the closing stages.

 Elsewhere in the EPL, second-place Manchester City fell to visiting Crystal Palace 3-2 and remained four points behind first-place Liverpool. In another upset, Jamie Vardy scored to guide Leicester to a 1-0 victory at fourth-place Chelsea. Also, Arsenal tied Chelsea in the standings after easing past Burnley 3-1.

Real Madrid defends world title: Luka Modric scored one goal and set up another as Real Madrid beat host Al Ain 4-1 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to win the Club World Cup title. The European champions claimed a recordextending seventh world title.

Real Madrid, which has won the past three Champions League titles, has also won the past three Club World Cups.

“It’s been an unforgettable year for me,” said Modric, who led Croatia to the World Cup final in July. “It’s been perfect. We won the Champions League, I had a spectacular World Cup with Croatia, and now I have won another title with Madrid. It’s been a dream year.”

More Europe: Two days after celebrating his 20th birthday, Kylian Mbappe scored host Paris Saint-Germain’s winner against Nantes in a 1-0 win. France’s World Cup star leads the league with 13 goals and PSG heads into the winter break unbeaten in domestic competitions . ... Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele scored first-half goals as host Barcelona beat Celta Vigo 2-0 to reach the Spanish league’s winter break with a three-point lead over Atletico Madrid . ... In Germany, Franck Ribery led Bayern Munich to another Bundesliga win, scoring twice in a 3-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt as second-place Bayern stayed six points behind league leader Borussia Dortmund at the winter break. ... Juventus, behind Mario Mandzukic’s first-half header, beat Roma 1-0 in Serie A play in Italy.