London: Manchester United delivered a potentially fatal blow to Manchester City’s Premier League title hopes after leaders Liverpool secured the Christmas number one spot with victory against Bournemouth.
Defending champions City came into the match at the Etihad Stadium knowing they had to win after Jurgen Klopp’s men coasted to a 3-0 victory on England’s south coast but they succumbed to United’s lightning-quick attacks, losing 2-1.
Earlier, Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham blitzed Burnley 5-0, with Son Heung-min scoring a sensational individual goal, while fourth-placed Chelsea went down 3-1 to Everton at Goodison Park.
City’s fourth league defeat of the season leaves them 14 points behind Liverpool, who have won 15 of their 16 league games.
No side has ever gone on to win the title after being as many points behind the top side at the end of a day.
But the match was overshadowed by unsavoury incidents, with United midfielder Fred hit by objects thrown from the crowd and footage on social media appearing to show a City fan making monkey chants.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United started the evening match buoyed by their victory against Spurs in midweek and were immediately on the front foot, pouring forward at frightening pace.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute and Anthony Martial doubled the visitors’ lead six minutes later. (AFP)
