Manchester United on Tuesday came from two goals down to rescue a dramatic 2-2 draw against Burnley thanks to Jesse Lingard’s double, while Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane shattered an English Premier League record with a hat-trick in a 5-2 rout of Southampton.
Ashley Barnes gave Burnley the perfect start in the third minute when he poked home from Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s free-kick.
Burnley have not won at Old Trafford since 1962, four months before United coach Jose Mourinho was born, but they scored again in the 36th minute.
Photo: Reuters
Belgian midfielder Steven Defour administered the knockout blow, bending a superb free-kick into the top corner.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, making his first league start since April after a major knee injury, was hauled off at halftime and his replacement Lingard gave United hope with a sublime back-flicked finish from Ashley Young’s cross in the 53rd minute.
Lingard finished as United’s hero when he fired into the bottom corner in the first minute of stoppage-time.
Despite that leveler, it was still a frustrating result at the end of a painful December for United, who had suffered a crucial home loss against Manchester City, crashed out of the League Cup at second-tier Bristol City and conceded a last-minute equalizer at 10-man Leicester City.
“The end product of so much dominance, two goals, is a miserable number,” Mourinho said. “The boys fought against the 2-0, so nothing negative to say about them. I praise their spirit. We should have won.”
At Wembley, Kane established a new record for the most Premier League goals in a year and is to finish as Europe’s leading scorer for this year.
Kane’s 22nd-minute header was his 37th goal of the year, moving him past Alan Shearer’s previous Premier League record, which was set when he played for Blackburn in 1995.
However, Kane was not happy to settle for that milestone and he scored twice more to claim his eighth treble of the year.
His second goal took him to 55 for club and country this year — lifting him above Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to become Europe’s top scorer over the past 12 months in the five major leagues.
“It has been a fantastic year. To get compared to those players, the Messis and Shearers, is what it is all about. Hopefully 2018 is even better,” Kane said.
Kane’s heroics were the highlight of a memorable Boxing Day for Tottenham, as Dele Alli and Son Heung-min also got on the score sheet.
Liverpool retained their grip on fourth place as Philippe Coutinho’s gem inspired a 5-0 demolition of bottom club Swansea City.
Coutinho produced a majestic strike to put Liverpool ahead from the edge of the area in the sixth minute.
Roberto Firmino netted from Coutinho’s free-kick seven minutes after halftime.
Young Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold notched his first league goal in the 65th minute and Firmino scored again a minute later.
England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rounded off the thrashing in the 83rd minute as Liverpool’s unbeaten league run reached 11 matches.
“The last half an hour was fantastic, a joy to watch. A very deserved win,” Reds boss Juergen Klopp said.
Alvaro Morata returned to lift Chelsea to a 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion that took the champions to within a point of second-placed United.
Morata was badly missed during his one-game ban as Chelsea labored to a goalless draw at Everton in their previous match.
However, the Spain striker was back in the lineup at Stamford Bridge and he netted 51 seconds into the second half with a header from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross.
Marcos Alonso sealed Chelsea’s third win in their past four league games with a near-post header from a 60th minute corner.
“Morata is our No. 9 and is important. Today he played a good game,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said.
AFC Bournemouth salvaged a controversial 3-3 draw against fellow strugglers West Ham United at the Vitality Stadium.
James Collins put West Ham ahead, only for Dan Gosling and Nathan Ake to reply for Bournemouth.
West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic scored in the 81st and 89th minutes, before Callum Wilson got the final equalizer with his arm from what the visitors claimed was an offside position.
Watford ended a six-game winless run as they beat Leicester 2-1.
West Bromwich Albion are without a win in 18 league games after a goalless draw against Everton, while Huddersfield Town drew 1-1 with Stoke City.
COPPA ITALIA
AP, ROME
SS Lazio remained on course for their second trophy of the season after beating ACF Fiorentina 1-0 on Tuesday to advance the Roman squad to the Coppa Italia semi-finals.
Captain Senad Lulic scored early on with an expert cut back and angled shot from inside the area.
Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha preserved the advantage by pushing wide a curling shot from Federico Chiesa midway through the second half on Fiorentina’s only significant chance.
Coach Simone Inzaghi’s side already upset Juventus to win the Supercoppa Italiana in August and were runners-up to Juventus in last season’s Coppa Italia.
“This is a competition we believe in,” Lazio midfielder Marco Parolo said. “We want to play in another final.”
The match was the first of many in Italy this week as part of an experiment of playing during the holidays.
In the semi-finals, Lazio are to face Inter or AC Milan, who were yesterday to meet in a derby.
In the other quarter-finals next week, SSC Napoli are to host Atalanta BC and Juventus are to meet Torino in another derby.
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