Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue of beleaguered Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Saturday as the visitors thumped Tottenham 3-0 to restore pride after their humiliation by Liverpool.
United arrived in London smarting from their 5-0 home defeat by their fiercest rivals last week, which led to a storm of speculation over the future of the Norwegian boss.
But a sublime first-half strike by Ronaldo, a clever finish from Edinson Cavani and a late Marcus Rashford goal lifted the visitors to fifth in the table, just three points behind third-placed Manchester City.
At the Etihad stadium, Wilfried Zaha became the first player to score 50 top-flight goals for Crystal Palace as 10-man Manchester City suffered a shock 2-0 defeat.
Zaha struck after just six minutes when Conor Gallagher robbed Aymeric Laporte inside his own half before Gallagher wrapped up the points when he fired home two minutes from time.
At St James’ Park, Reece James scored twice to help Premier League leaders Chelsea beat Newcastle United 3-0.
James blasted the ball into the roof of the net after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross was headed into his path to put the visitors ahead after 65 minutes.
It became 2-0 12 minutes later when England wing-back James again struck powerfully past goalkeeper Karl Darlow after a shot from substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek was blocked.
Darlow then fouled Kai Havertz to give Chelsea a penalty, which Jorginho converted for a third goal.
Elsewhere, Burnley marked manager Sean Dyche’s ninth anniversary in charge by claiming a commanding first Premier League victory of the season against Brentford at Turf Moor. Burnley ended the game 3-1.
Arsenal continued their recent resurgence with a comfortable Premier League win over Leicester City at King Power Stadium.
Gabriel put the Gunners in front, climbing above several static Leicester defenders to head in from Bukayo Saka’s corner, while Emile Smith Rowe picked his spot when the ball broke to him after good work from Saka and Alexandre Lacazette.
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