Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United on Wednesday made it four wins out of four in the English Premier League, beating Newcastle United to close the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea, who were held at home by Southampton.
Manchester United have been transformed since their former striker replaced Jose Mourinho, scoring 12 goals in his first three games in temporary charge, but were forced to dig deep to emerge with a 2-0 win against a disciplined Newcastle side at St James’ Park.
The victory leaves them in sixth place with 38 points, just three behind Arsenal and six from Chelsea.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Substitute Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock just 38 seconds after coming on midway through the second half, pouncing after Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka had spilled a fierce Marcus Rashford free-kick and Rashford himself made sure of the points in the 80th minute.
Manchester United bossed possession, but a resolute Newcastle defense kept clear-cut chances to a minimum, prompting Solskjaer to throw on Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez shortly after the hour mark.
The changes bore fruit immediately and the interim boss will be equally pleased that Manchester United managed just their third clean sheet of the season in the Premier League.
“Finally we kept a clean sheet,” Solskjaer told Sky Sports. “A very professional performance. We didn’t hit the heights that we can do, but we were in control, kept plugging away and got the goals.”
Solskjaer is only the second manager in Manchester United history to win their first four league games after Matt Busby in 1946.
It was a frustrating evening for Chelsea, who dominated possession, but lacked any cutting edge, maintaining a worrying sequence for Maurizio Sarri’s team.
His side failed to score for the third time in their past five Premier League games at Stamford Bridge, raising more questions about Chelsea’s need for a top-class striker in this month’s transfer window.
Chelsea earlier on Wednesday announced that they had agreed terms with Borussia Dortmund for the signing of 20-year-old US winger Christian Pulisic for a reported 64 million euros (US$72.8 million). He will link up with the club ahead of next season.
The fee is easily the biggest paid for a US player, surpassing the reported 20 million euros spent by VfL Wolfsburg for John Brooks in 2017.
In an astonishing game at AFC Bournemouth, the home side shared six goals with Watford in a helter-skelter first half, but there was no addition to the scoreline in the second half.
Andy Carroll was named in the West Ham United team to face Brighton & Hove Albion — a year to the day since he last started a match — but Marko Arnautovic was the star for the London side, scoring a quick-fire double to rescue a 2-2 draw.
Elsewhere, 10-man Huddersfield Town lost 2-1 at home to Burnley, who also finished with 10 men, while Crystal Palace beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 away from home.
Manchester City were to face leaders Liverpool yesterday in a potentially season-defining match at the Etihad, with the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s side, who are seven points behind Juergen Klopp’s men.
Additional reporting by AP
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