Lukaku hits double in United rout, Spurs also win

LONDON - Romelu Lukaku scored twice on his Old Trafford debut as Manchester United delivered their biggest Premier League win in nearly three years to rout West Ham United 4-0 on Sunday.

Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba also struck late on as United outshone all their rivals over the weekend to top the fledgling table, leading manager Jose Mourinho to salute their new-found confidence.

Sunday's other game saw Tottenham Hotspur win 2-0 at newly promoted Newcastle United whose captain Jonjo Shelvey was sent off for a deliberate stamp on Dele Alli in front of the referee.

At Old Trafford, a United side inspired by Nemanja Matic, their 40-million-pound ($52.04-million) signing from Chelsea, provided another expensive newcomer, the 75-million-pound Lukaku, with the perfect service.

Lukaku, who also scored against Real Madrid in last week's Super Cup, netted 25 times in the league for Everton last season and looked equally deadly following his move to United.

The Belgian struck in the 33rd and 52nd minutes, first getting on the end of a perfect through ball from Marcus Rashford and then heading a second goal from a drifted Henrikh Mkhitaryan free kick after the break.

Martial and Pogba then ruined former City keeper Joe Hart's return to Manchester with further strikes that sent the crowd away confident that last season's problems of winning at home will not be repeated.

"It was a dream come true," said Lukaku. "The win was good, four goals and a clean sheet.

"Jose Mourinho wants me to be the leader and create as much as I can. The fans want to see attractive football. It is just the start."

Mourinho was not inclined to get carried away, pointing out that United also started last season well, but said: "The team was confident -- a word I like."

At St James' Park, Spurs' victory was almost as easy once Shelvey suffered his moment of madness in the 48th minute.

The spark point was Alli's refusal to give Shelvey the ball after the Tottenham midfielder was fouled. The 25-year-old Shelvey responded with a stamp that left referee Andre Marriner no choice but to give Newcastle's captain the third red card of his career.

Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez said Shelvey apologised to his team mates after costing Newcastle the match on their Premier League return.

Shelvey will now serve a three-match ban.

Goals by Ben Davies and Alli himself sealed the Tottenham win with Kyle Walker-Peters named man of the match on his Premier League debut.

Bizarrely, the full back was a replacement for the almost identically named Kyle Walker, who joined Manchester City in the off-season.

($1 = 0.7686 pounds) (Editing by Clare Fallon)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

FOOTBALL: Arsenal dumped out of FA Cup, PSG clinch Ligue 1 title

Holders Arsenal dumped out of FA Cup by clinical Watford

Jamie McGeever, Reuters

Holders Arsenal were knocked out of the FA Cup with a 2-1 home defeat by Watford in the quarter-finals on Sunday ending their quest to win the trophy for the third straight season and increasing the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger.

Goals from Odion Ighalo and Adlene Guedioura after the break put Watford in control while a late strike from Danny Welbeck was all the hosts could muster despite several chances, leaving them set to end the season without any silverware.

Arsenal were aiming to become the first side since Blackburn Rovers in the 1880s to win the Cup for three years in a row but instead they slumped to a third consecutive home defeat in all competitions for the first time since November 2002.

Having to overhaul a 2-0 deficit at European champions Barcelona in their Champions League last 16 return leg next week and standing eight points behind Premier League leaders Leicester City with only nine games left, the FA Cup was Arsenal's most realistic chance of a trophy this season.

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Martial keeps United's hopes alive after Payet masterpiece

Reuters

Manchester United striker Anthony Martial kept their FA Cup hopes alive when he struck eight minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw with West Ham United in Sunday's quarter-final tie at Old Trafford.

West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet looked to be sending the 11-times Cup winners tumbling out of the competition with a wondrous, curling free kick in the 68th minute.

But with time running out, United's young French starlet Martial hooked Ander Herrera's cross back into the net from the narrowest of angles.

United will now have a replay at what will be the last Cup tie to be staged at West Ham's Boleyn Ground in the Londoners' final season there before they move to the Olympic Stadium.

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PSG demolish Troyes 9-0 to clinch Ligue 1 title

Reuters

Four goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic spurred Paris St Germain to their fourth successive Ligue 1 title with a 9-0 rout of Troyes, becoming the first team to win the championship after 30 matches.

Ibrahimovic's sensational nine-minute hat-trick at the start of the second half followed goals from Edinson Cavani, Javier Pastore and Adrien Rabiot. Matthieu Saunier's own goal and further strikes by Cavani and Ibrahimovic completed the biggest away victory in Ligue 1 history.

PSG moved up to 77 points, 25 clear of second-place Monaco, winning the league with eight games still to play.

The championship is the sixth in the club's history and the fastest-ever Ligue 1 victory, breaking the record set by Gerard Houllier's Olympique Lyonnais in 2007, who won the title after 33 matches.

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Dortmund ease past Mainz as fan dies in stands

Reuters

Borussia Dortmund scored in each half to ease past Mainz 05 2-0 on Sunday and stay five points off leaders Bayern Munich with eight matches left in the season.

The Ruhr valley club were never troubled in the game, overshadowed by the death of a fan in the tribunes from an apparent heart attack, and should have scored more goals were it not for Mainz's Loris Karius.

The keeper single-handedly kept the scoreline low, denying Dortmund on more than six occasions with a string of outstanding saves as fans kept quiet, stunned by the sudden death among them.

Dortmund said a second fan had also suffered a heart attack but was resuscitated and in a stable condition in hospital.

"During the game there was a tragic incident where two people had to be resuscitated. One person did not make it," Dortmund said in a brief statement. "We are filled with grief and our thoughts are with the families."

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"Unbelievable" Kane boosts Spurs' title push with double

Reuters

Harry Kane was hailed as "unbelievable" after the England striker's 21st and 22nd goals of the season inspired Tottenham Hotspur to a routine win at hapless Aston Villa on Sunday that boosted their Premier League title ambitions.

Kane ended Villa's resistance in the space of three minutes either side of halftime, taking his tally to 18 goals in his last 20 league appearances, assisted on each occasion by a superb delivery from Dele Alli.

Kane's double left a delighted Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino to enthuse in an interview with BBC: "Harry Kane is an unbelievable guy who works hard for the team. I am very pleased for him."

The victory for Spurs consigned bottom-placed Villa to a 20th league defeat of the season while Pochettino's side moved just two points behind leaders Leicester City at the top of the table.

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Third-placed Real grab last-gasp winner at Las Palmas

Reuters
Real Madrid's Casemiro headed a late winner to earn a barely deserved 2-1 victory at Las Palmas in La Liga on Sunday as they moved back within four points of second-placed Atletico Madrid.

Casemiro nodded home from a corner two minutes after the home side's Willian Jose struck in the 87th to equalise after a misplaced pass from Madrid substitute Mateo Kovacic.

Sergio Ramos's flicked header had given Real the lead in the 24th against a determined Las Palmas, who had won their previous three league games to move clear of the relegation zone.

Third-placed Real are 10 points clear of Villarreal, who lost 4-2 at Sevilla in a game between fourth and fifth, but are 12 points off leaders Barcelona who beat Getafe 6-0 on Saturday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Chelsea rocked, United's Martial makes instant impact

LONDON -- Jose Mourinho refused to condemn his Chelsea flops after their title defence was plunged into turmoil by a 3-1 defeat at Everton, while Manchester United's Anthony Martial exploded onto the Old Trafford stage with a superb strike in his new club's 3-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday.

Mourinho's side made a miserable start at Goodison Park as Scotland forward Steven Naismith came off the bench to score twice in the space of five minutes mid-way through the first half.

Nemanja Matic pulled one back for Chelsea before the interval, but Naismith completed his treble in the closing stages to condemn the Blues -- with three defeats and only four points from their five matches -- to their worst start to a season since 1988.

It left Chelsea 11 points below leaders Manchester City, who snatched a late 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, but Mourinho claimed he had no complaints about his team's performance and blamed bad luck for their recent woes.

"I am a champion, the players are the champions, the way they are playing is not as bad as the results, but in every single game things are going against us," Mourinho told BT Sport.

"We have to cope with it. Football is about results. It's easy to say and I agree completely, but results are too bad.

"I don't blame my players and I don't blame myself. I don't accept the results."

At Old Trafford, Martial made one of the more memorable United debuts in recent memory as the teenage French striker came off the bench to mark his debut with the clinching goal against Liverpool.

Signed from Monaco on transfer deadline day for a reported initial fee of £36 million ($55 million) that even United manager Louis van Gaal admitted was "ridiculous", Martial had been dismissed in some quarters as a panic buy.

But the hefty price tag, that made the 19-year-old the world's most expensive teenage player, didn't seem to bother Martial, who came on as a 65th minute substitute and settled one of English football's heavyweight clashes with a devastating knockout blow.

United had taken a two-goal lead thanks to Daley Blind's sumptuous long-range finish in the 49th minute and an Ander Herrera penalty in the 70th minute following Joe Gomez's foul on the Spanish midfielder

But the hosts were clinging to a 2-1 lead after Christian Benteke's brilliant bicycle kick in the 84th minute had given Liverpool hope of snatching a draw.

That was the cue for Martial to steal the spotlight two minutes later as he took possession on the left, surged past Martin Skrtel and cut inside before calmly steering his shot into the far corner.

"Anthony Martial scored a marvellous goal and physically he can play in the Premier League," van Gaal said.

"He's been with us for three days, that is too short to judge his personality but he made a very good impression."



- Pace-setters -


Early pace-setters City sit five points off second placed United after they won 1-0 at Palace courtesy of a last-minute goal by substitute Kelechi Iheanacho.

City had earlier lost Sergio Aguero through injury, but prevailed when 18-year-old Nigerian striker Iheanacho poked in the rebound from a Samir Nasri shot to preserve the visitors' 100 percent record.

Aguero was forced off in the 24th minute after a heavy challenge by Scott Dann, which saw Kevin De Bruyne come on for his City debut following his £54 million ($83.3 million, 73.5 million euros) switch from Wolfsburg.

"I think the team is demonstrating why we have won five games," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who hopes Aguero will be fit to face Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"Last season is in the past and now we are thinking about the future. It's important to have a gap between champions, but three or four teams can be very strong and can win the title."

The result left Alan Pardew's Palace fourth, six points below City and a point behind United and Arsenal, who won 2-0 at home to Stoke City.

After Alexis Sanchez had twice hit the post, Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead from Mesut Ozil's pass in the 31st minute and Olivier Giroud sealed victory with a header five minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Swansea City saw their unbeaten start to the season ended in a 1-0 defeat at promoted Watford.

Norwich City beat fellow promoted side Bournemouth 3-1 to claim their first home win of the campaign.

The day's other game saw Southampton draw 0-0 at West Bromwich Albion.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com