Manchester United continued its recovery from a slow start in the Premier League with another auspicious win over Tottenham Hotspur at home while Liverpool showed signs of putting their woes behind them with a win over West Ham.
Fred and Bruno Fernandes were on target for the hosts, at United moved to within a point of the top four with their win.
The first half was one-way traffic from the off with Hugo Lloris having to deny Fernandes, Anthony, Fred, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw all in the space of the first 25 minutes.
Despite not getting their goal until halftime, United finally got their breakthrough when Fred’s seemingly harmless shot from outside the box deflected off Tottenham defender Ben Davies’ shin and into the back of the net.
Fernandes then put the bow on a dominant performance by putting away a loose ball inside the box in the 69th minute to complete the scoreline as Lloris denied Rashford one last time to keep the margin respectable.
The win takes United fifth on the table with 19 points just one behind Chelsea in fourth. Tottenham, meanwhile, remains third with 23 points behind Man City and leaders Arsenal.
In another game, Darwin Nunez scored the only goal of the game as Liverpool followed up their win over City with another narrow victory over West Ham to return to the top half of the table.
Nunez, Liverpool’s prized signing, scored his first goal at home with a header in the 22nd minute before Allison denied Jarred Bowen from the penalty spot in the first half to take Liverpool seventh on the table.
Chelsea were held 0-0 by Brentford, while Newcastle and Southampton registered wins during the midweek action.
