London: Manchester United’s troubled season hit a new low Saturday as Jose Mourinho saw his gamble on introducing a new tactical system backfire with an insipid 1-3 defeat to West Ham United while rivals Manchester City maintained their top spot with a 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.
Record signing Felipe Anderson scored his first Hammers’ goal to give them the lead with an audacious back-foot flick after just five minutes before Andriy Yarmolenko’s shot deflected off Victor Lindelof for an unlucky own goal just before the break.
Though substitute Marcus Rashford gave the visitors hope with a clever volleyed 71st-minute flick, Marko Arnautovic waltzed between United’s central defenders minutes later to seal victory.
Elsewhere, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero scored in either halves to take City on 19 points from seven games. Sterling put City ahead in the 29th minute netting his fourth of the season before Aguero wriggled past quite a few defenders to slot it past opposition goalie Mathew Ryan in the 65th minute.
Meanwhile, skipper Harry Kane scored a brace as Tottenham Hotspur rise to the fourth spot with an easy 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town but will be concerned about Jan Vertonghen who had out come out with a suspected muscle injury.
Arsenal continued their good run as the Gunners claimed their fifth consecutive Premier League victory under Unai Emery with a 2-0 win against Watford at the Emirates Stadium. Craig Cathcart put through his own net in the 81st minute to give Arsenal the lead before Mesut Ozil scored two minutes later to complete the victory.
