LONDON -- Manchester United survived a League Cup scare against third tier Rochdale as they won 5-3 on penalties, while West Ham suffered a shock 4-0 defeat at Oxford on Wednesday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's struggling side were held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford after 16-year-old Luke Matheson scored a 76th minute equaliser following Mason Greenwood's opener for United eight minutes earlier.
With United in danger of a humiliating exit, they held their nerve in the shoot-out, winning 5-3 as Daniel James converted the decisive kick after Sergio Romero saved Rochdale's second penalty from Jimmy Keohane.
Although United avoided the embarrassment of losing to a team 17th in League One, the sloppy manner of their performance will raise fresh questions about Solskjaer's ability to inspire his side.
United are languishing in eighth place in the Premier League after Saturday's dismal 2-0 defeat at West Ham left them with just two wins from six games.
"We go 1-0 up and you think 'come on, get a second'. It's a learning curve," Solskjaer said.
"At this club we don't sit back and think that's good enough. That's not what we want here."
Liverpool eased to a 2-0 victory at third tier MK Dons as Harvey Elliott became the youngest player to start a competitive match for the club.
The 16-year-old put in an accomplished display and twice hit the crossbar as James Milner profited from terrible goalkeeping from Stuart Moore to put the Reds in front before Ki-Jana Hoever wrapped up the win.
Frank Lampard got a first home win as Chelsea boss under his belt as his youthful side thumped fourth division Grimsby 7-1.
Ross Barkley opened the floodgates and Michy Batshuayi struck twice.
- Chelsea kids shine -
There were also goals for Pedro, Kurt Zouma, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi -- the England winger making his first appearance since suffering an Achilles injury in April.
Lampard handed debuts to four academy graduates as well as a first start for Billy Gilmour.
Gilmour was a stand-out performer in midfield and fellow rookies James and Marc Guehi also impressed.
"I'm pleased, some debuts and the young lads who came on improved the team which was nice. It's nice to get that first home win," Lampard said.
"I thought Gilmour ran the game from midfield. It says a lot about the academy, and nights like this give the opportunity to mix the team up and give them a chance."
At the Kassam Stadium, third tier Oxford reached the fourth round for the first time in 22 years thanks to a stunning victory against West Ham.
Second-half goals by Elliott Moore, Matty Taylor, Tariqe Fosu and Shandon Baptiste left West Ham shell-shocked.
Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini made nine changes and handed a full debut to academy graduate Nathan Holland, but the understudies weren't up to the task.
Max Power's superb 25-yard strike in the ninth minute fired third tier Sunderland to a surprise 1-0 win at Premier League side Sheffield United.
Bournemouth were the third Premier League club to crash out as third tier Burton -- semi-finalists last season -- won 2-0 in a match delayed three times by floodlight failure at the Pirelli Stadium.
Wolves beat second tier Reading 4-2 on penalties after a dramatic 1-1 draw.
Debutant Bruno Jordao put Wolves ahead but Lucas Boye headed Reading level in the ninth minute of stoppage-time, setting up a shoot-out that the Premier League team won comfortably.
Aston Villa cruised to a 3-1 win at Brighton thanks to goals from Jota, Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANCHESTER -- Marcus Rashford scored twice as Manchester United made the perfect start to their Premier League season by inflicting a 4-0 defeat on Frank Lampard in his first match in charge of Chelsea on Sunday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men were in need of a fast start to the campaign to erase memories of a terrible end to last season and got it.
Rashford's early penalty opened the scoring against the run of play, but three goals in 16 second-half minutes from Anthony Martial, Rashford and debutant Daniel James had Old Trafford in raptures.
"We took risks but that's the way here, you've got to go for it. It's risk and reward and today we were rewarded," said Solskjaer.
Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka also impressed at the back on their debuts after United spent £130 million ($156 million) on the pair over the summer to shore up a defence that conceded 54 Premier League goals last season.
"It is a great start for myself and the team. We rode our luck a bit first half but second we were much more ourselves," said £80 million signing Maguire after his first game as the world's most expensive defender.
"We knew there were only two clean sheets last year here (at Old Trafford). We need to make it a fortress."
However, questions will be asked of Chelsea's decision to let experienced defender David Luiz leave to join Arsenal earlier this week as the Blues struggled to contain the United counter-attacks despite dominating long spells.
Lampard's first team selection was a bold one as he put his faith in youth with Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount handed starts.
Chelsea were banned from making new signings over the summer and Lampard also has a number of senior players out injured, but refused to make excuses.
"The team we put out today was clearly competing in the game for long periods but we made four mistakes and they were clinical in the way they put them away," said Lampard.
"They are a counter-attacking team, it's a big strength, they have pace, and if you give them opportunities they will counter. For massive parts of the game we didn't allow them to do that. (There are) loads of lessons for us."
Chelsea started the better as Abraham smashed a shot from the edge of the box off the post, but the heart of Lampard's defence always looked fragile.
Kurt Zouma had already gotten away with gifting possession to Martial on the edge of his own box as the Frenchman shot weakly into the arms of Kepa Arrizabalaga before he was turned easily by Rashford and hauled the England striker to the ground.
- Pogba the provider -
Rashford dusted himself off to blast the penalty high past Kepa to open the scoring.
United needed David de Gea to recover his best form as he made fine saves from Ross Barkley and Emerson Palmieri, while the Italian international also blasted off the inside of the post.
But at the other end, Rashford and Martial provided the clinical touch to kill the game off in the space of 60 seconds that Chelsea lacked.
Martial bundled the ball home at the far post from Andreas Pereira's cross and Paul Pogba then played provider with a brilliant ball over the top for Rashford to burst in behind before coolly slotting past Kepa.
Pogba was the creator again for the fourth as the Frenchman played a one-two with Rashford and powered through the Chelsea defence before laying off to James, who got the benefit of a big deflection to find the bottom corner.
"We're fitter, we're stronger, you can see that second half we are more than capable of lasting games," added Solskjaer.
"We've had six good weeks, but it's still work in progress. We are not anywhere near the finished article."
source: news.abs-cbn.com
WOLVERHAMPTON -- Ashley Young's needless dismissal and Chris Smalling's farcical own goal sent Manchester United crashing to a damaging 2-1 defeat against Wolves on Tuesday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side blew a chance to move into third place in the Premier League as they squandered the lead in a disappointing display at Molineux.
United remain fifth, but their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League via a top-four finish will be further dented if Tottenham and Chelsea win on Wednesday.
It was a frustrating night for Solskjaer, who saw United suffer a third defeat in their last four games -- underlining how much work the Norwegian still has in front of him following his appointment as permanent manager last week.
Scott McTominay's first goal for United was negated by Diogo Jota before the interval, but the game's turning point proved to be a second yellow card collected by Young with just 57 minutes gone.
United finally caved to Wolves' pressure 20 minutes later, when Raul Jimenez rose above Phil Jones and headed a Joao Moutinho cross goalwards.
The awkward attempt saw Smalling and goalkeeper David de Gea become entangled, with the former making the final touch as the ball rolled over the line.
McTominay's memorable first ever goal in professional football had come after just 13 minutes and a solid, controlled start by Solskjaer's team.
A patient left-wing build-up ended with Jesse Lingard playing the ball centrally to Fred, with the Brazilian quickly moving it sideways to Scotland international McTominay.
The 22-year-old unleashed a brilliant, right-foot finish from 25 yards that beat the diving Rui Patricio and nestled in the far left-hand corner.
It might have been an even healthier position a few moments later, but Romelu Lukaku impeded McTominay as his team-mate lined up another shot from similar range.
But with Wolves' defence looking curiously disorganised, there was still opportunity for Lukaku to chip in a dangerous centre for Lingard, whose close-range header was pawed away to safety by Patricio.
- United shaken -
The goal lead was just reward for a strong start by United, with Lingard surging forward directly from kick-off and unleashing the game's first shot with just five seconds gone.
There was also a promising attack which saw Fred spray the ball wide to Diogo Dalot whose hanging cross found Lukaku, only for the Belgian to guide his header directly at the keeper from six yards.
However, United succumbed to the first period of pressure placed upon them by the home side, who had already beaten them in the FA Cup just weeks ago.
First, an unfortunate rebound off Dalot allowed Willy Boly to play through Jimenez who hurried a 24th-minute shot.
Just seconds later, United were not so lucky after a poor clearance from De Gea, and even worse control by Fred, saw him lose the ball to Moutinho with Jimenez pouncing on it and playing in Jota.
The Portuguese forward did not need a second invitation to advance and calmly beat De Gea for the equaliser.
United looked shaken and an error by Luke Shaw, in mis-directing a header, soon played in Matt Doherty, who pulled the ball back for Leo Dendoncker to blaze over from the corner of the six-yard area.
United threatened after the restart, with a Lukaku cross flicked on by Paul Pogba for McTominay, who stooped low and saw his diving header well saved by the outstretched hand of Patricio.
But United's task was hardly made easier when Young collected two yellow cards in the space of five minutes for fouls on Jota, the second after a particularly unpleasant high challenge.
As Wolves fans, warming up for Sunday's FA Cup semi-final with Watford, celebrated their impending victory, substitute Ivan Cavaleiro almost made it three when he struck the crossbar in stoppage-time.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
