United hit Leeds for six to hammer out title warning

MANCHESTER: Man­ch­es­ter United waited 16 years to play old rivals Leeds United in the English Premier League, and then made them look distinctly second-class.

United charged to a 6-2 victory on Sunday, with two goals each for midfielders Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes, as they roared back into the title race in third on 26 points, above fourth-placed Everton on goal difference and five behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.

Promoted Leeds have won admirers for their attacking approach under Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa but the 30 goals they have conceded this season is the worst defensive record in the league and they have slipped to 14th in the table.

The Yorkshire club were 2-0 down inside three minutes after McTominay scored two early goals after he was left plenty of space to run through the Leeds defence, the first a stunning strike from distance.

Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 20th minute and Victor Lindelof added a fourth in the 37th before a Liam Cooper header, four minutes before the interval, gave the visitors some encouragement for the second half.

But McTominay set up Daniel James for United’s fifth before a Fernandes penalty made it 6-1.

Even then, with Bielsa yelling from the touchline, Leeds continued to push forward and Stuart Dallas gave them some reward for their efforts with a beautiful curling shot from distance.

While there were some outstanding individual displays in the United side, none more than from McTominay in midfield, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also got his tactical approach spot on.

“We had a plan to get after them and go forward when we got the ball, and Scott gets two goals in the first three minutes which is a great start,” Solskjaer said. “We had to earn the right to win it by running just as much or more than them, so that was a challenge against one of the fittest teams in the league.”

But the Norwegian refused to get carried away with talk about United’s league position after their sixth win in seven league games.

“We are not even at the halfway point,” he added. “The league position is not something we look at. We look at the improvement of the team. Now we are getting fitter and stronger. Our fans needed that one.”

ALLARDYCE BEATEN

Sam Allardyce is the coach Premier League teams turn to when they need to avoid relegation. But he didn’t have an immediate effect as his first game with struggling West Bromwich Albion ended in a 3-0 home defeat by West Midlands rivals Aston Villa with Anwar El Ghazi on target twice.

The experienced Allardyce replaced the sacked Crotian Slaven Bilic at West Brom in midweek but after five minutes Villa took the lead when El-Ghazi deftly steered home Traore’s cross to the far post.

West Brom had captain Jake Livermore sent off following a VAR review for a reckless tackle on Jack Grealish and Allardyce’s new charges barely threatened after that, managing a single shot in the whole game.

Traore added a second six minutes from time and El Ghazi slotted home a late penalty to secure a win that lifts Villa to ninth spot on 22 points after 12 games, while West Brom remain second from bottom with seven points from 14 games, three points off safety.