Premier League: Manchester United has to settle for scoreless draw vs. Burnley
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Jose Mourinho watched from the stands in the second half as Manchester United endured a goalless draw in the English Premier League on Saturday, with goalkeeper Tom Heaton helping Burnley snatch a point against his former club.
United bounced back from a humiliating defeat at Chelsea with an English League Cup derby win against Manchester City midweek, but hopes of a follow-up victory in the league were thwarted by Heaton, a United academy graduate.
Heaton left United six years ago without a first-team appearance to his name and, now 30, returned to haunt United on Saturday, producing a stunning display in the Burnley goal as a pulsating match ended 0-0.
Referee Mark Clattenburg gave Ander Herrera a harsh-looking second yellow card, having already sent off Mourinho.
The United manager was furious at his side not receiving a penalty after Jon Flanagan's challenge on Matteo Darmian just before halftime. Mourinho sat in the stands rather than the dugout.
With Mourinho passing notes down to the bench, United lost a player when Herrera — booked in the first half for a challenge on Dean Marney — was given a second yellow for catching the Burnley midfielder again. It looked harsh, considering the Spaniard seemed to slip.
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LIVERPOOL 4, CRYSTAL PALACE 2
LONDON (AP) — Liverpool compensated for its defensive errors with a fine attacking display to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 and remain among the leading pack in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Only an inferior goal difference means Liverpool is behind Manchester City and Arsenal at the top of the standings.
Emre Can, Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip, and Roberto Firmino inflicted Palace's third successive loss.
Liverpool's Alberto Moreno replaced the absent James Milner to secure his first league start since losing his place after the opening day of the season, and he required only 16 minutes to exert his influence.
Receiving Philippe Coutinho's pass on the left wing, Moreno sent a one-touch cross into the path of Can and the midfielder shot first time from inside the area beyond goalkeeper Steve Mandanda into the bottom right corner.
But two minutes later Lovren, under little pressure, sliced a clearance back toward his own goal. James McArthur capitalized, running into its path and routinely heading the first of his goals over goalkeeper Loris Karius.
It took only three minutes for Liverpool to restore their lead. From the excellent Coutinho's 21st-minute corner, Lovren responded to his earlier error by jumping and powerfully heading his team back into the lead from directly in front of goal.
Amid more unconvincing defending in the 33rd, McArthur again brought Palace level. Wilfried Zaha was allowed to cross to the midfielder, who beat Lovren to possession to score his second header of the game.
From another Coutinho corner in the 44th, Lovren's central defensive partner, Joel Matip, headed Liverpool back into the lead when the well-placed Mandanda should have saved when allowing the ball between his hands.
Then in the 71st, Jordan Henderson's long-range, classy through-ball sent Firmino one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and the Brazilian responded by superbly chipping Mandanda to double Liverpool's lead.
ARSENAL 4, SUNDERLAND 1
SUNDERLAND, England (AP) — Olivier Giroud scored his first goals of the season as Arsenal beat Sunderland 4-1 on Saturday, leaving the beleaguered northeast team with only two points after 10 Premier League games.
The France forward struck twice within five minutes of being introduced as a 69th-minute substitute to kill off hopes of Sunderland's fightback after Jermain Defoe's penalty had canceled out Alexis Sanchez's first-half opener for Arsenal.
The Gunners have now gone 14 games unbeaten in all competitions since the opening day of the season.
Sunderland lacked both the defensive resilience and the raw pace to compete, further weakening David Moyes' hold on the Sunderland job.
Mesut Ozil had already shot tamely at goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after Sanchez's 13th-minute pass had carved a highway through the home defense.
However, Sanchez put Arsenal ahead in the 19th minute when he got ahead of Lamine Kone to head home Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross.
Ozil should have made it 2-0 seven minutes before halftime after running on to Oxlade-Chamberlain's ball over the top, but did not get enough on his lobbed attempt to let the advancing Pickford and his team-mates off the hook.
After the break, Oxlade-Chamberlain squandered another golden opportunity after being played in behind a square defense once again and Sanchez was astonished not to be awarded a 62nd-minute penalty after going down under Kone's challenge.
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Referee Martin Atkinson, however, did point to the spot at the other end two minutes later after Duncan Watmore had got away from defender Shkodran Mustafi and been tripped by 'keeper Petr Cech, and Defoe converted from the spot.
The respite was fleeting as Giroud steered home Kieran Gibbs' 71st-minute cross to restore his side's lead and then headed home Ozil's cross five minutes later.
Sanchez converted from close range after Gibbs' shot had come back off the post to complete a miserable afternoon for Sunderland.
TOTTENHAM 1, LEICESTER CITY 1
LONDON (AP) — Tottenham preserved the Premier League's only unbeaten record but failed to win for a fifth successive match in all competitions as champion Leicester earned a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
Tottenham has stalled since opening the month with an eye-catching victory over leader Manchester City as last season's top scorer, Harry Kane, remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Vincent Janssen, signed from AZ Alkmaar pre-season as backup to Kane, is being relied on more than expected early in his Tottenham career but Mauricio Pochettino's team is not being clinical enough in front of goal.
Although Janssen scored his third goal of the season against Leicester, the 22-year-old Dutch forward is yet to score from open play with all the strikes coming from the penalty spot.
Janssen converted from the spot at White Hart Lane after being brought down by Robert Huth in the 44th minute, but it was canceled out three minutes into the second half.
Leicester, which has mounted an unconvincing defense of the title won so unexpectedly last season, was gifted an equalizer.
Victor Wanyama headed the ball back into the path of Jamie Vardy, who back-heeled it across to Ahmed Musa to bundle into the net.
Tottenham rose to fourth, three points behind Man City, but it has drawn its last three league matches and only scored twice in that time. Tottenham has also been knocked out of the League Cup by Liverpool and held 0-0 by Bayer Leverkusen during its five-match winless run.
Tottenham plays Leverkusen again on Wednesday in the Champions League — the competition that Leicester appears to be focusing on this season.
While Tottenham has only collected four points from its opening three European fixtures, Leicester has a perfect nine.
By contrast, Leicester is winless away in the league, sitting in 11th place — 11 points from the summit where it spent so much of last season.
MANCHESTER CITY 4, WEST BROMWICH 0
WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) — Manchester City ended a six-match winless streak by duly thumping West Bromwich Albion 4-0 in the English Premier League on Saturday.
West Brom hasn't won in the league since mid-September, and was outgunned by the league-leading visitors.
Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan scored twice each to bring an emphatic end to Pep Guardiola's longest winless run in his managerial career.
Aguero scored twice in the first half, and set up the third for Gundogan after the break when West Brom was threatening. Gundogan's second in the last minute capped a flattering scoreline for City, which edged Arsenal on top of the standings on goal difference.
WATFORD 1, HULL 0
WATFORD, England (AP) — Hull captain Michael Dawson's late own goal handed Watford a 1-0 victory on Saturday and condemned his side to a sixth successive English Premier League loss.
Hull headed into the game with an aggregate scoreline of 19-3 from its five losses but Mike Phelan's side was looking more resolute at Vicarage Road until Dawson's inadvertent intervention in the 82nd minute. Nordin Amrabat's shot ricocheted off Dawson and past goalkeeper David Marshall.
While Watford is flying high in seventh place, Hull remains in the bottom three having not taken a point since a draw at Burnley on Sept. 10.
MIDDLESBROUGH 2, BOURNEMOUTH 0
MIDDLESBROUGH, England (AP) — Gaston Ramirez scored a solo masterpiece, following a lung-busting run with a delicate finish as Middlesbrough earned a commanding 2-0 victory over Bournemouth in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Ramirez's 39th-minute goal started with a block deep in his own half, and he ran the length of the pitch as Harry Arter, Andrew Surman, and finally goalkeeper Artur Boruc were beaten by his drive, guile, and craft.
For a side which took a single point from its first four home games, it was a heady moment. It was followed in the second half by another pleasing move finished by Stewart Downing.
Downing last scored a league goal for his hometown team in 2008, in an 8-1 triumph over Manchester City.
