Gloom descended on Manchester United again as they began their festive fixtures with a 2-0 Premier League defeat at West Ham United on Saturday — a 13th loss of the season in all competitions for Erik Ten Hag’s faltering team.
Newly-crowned World Club champions Manchester City slipped out of the top four as Tottenham Hotspur claimed a third consecutive league win, beating Everton 2-1 at home in a thrilling end-to-end clash.
With City not in action after their triumph in Saudi Arabia, Tottenham moved above the champions into fourth place with 36 points from 18 games, three behind leaders Arsenal who face third-placed Liverpool (38 points) in the day’s standout fixture at Anfield later on Saturday.
Aston Villa are second with 39 points, behind Arsenal on goal difference, after their surprise 1-1 draw with bottom club Sheffield United on Friday snapped their 15-match winning streak at home in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest’s new manager Nuno Espirito Santo began with a 3-2 home defeat by Bournemouth which left 17th-placed Forest far too close to the bottom three for comfort after big wins for Luton Town and Burnley who are immediately below them.
Manchester United’s gritty 0-0 draw at Liverpool last weekend was seen as a positive sign for Ten Hag’s inconsistent side but all the negativity returned at the London Stadium.
Second-half goals by Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus sealed the win for West Ham who moved above United into sixth place.
Bowen bundled home from close range in the 72nd minute after a lovely one-two with Lucas Paqueta who played in Kudus six minutes later to settle the game with a sharp finish.
United, down in eighth place, again lacked any cutting edge in attack and have now gone four games in all competitions without scoring — their longest such sequence without a goal since 1992.
“We have players who can (score), they proved it in the past they can do it,” Ten Hag, who just cannot get a tune from his team, told reporters. “But we also have to acknowledge the facts that football is about winning games and is about scoring goals.
“We have issues, we had many setbacks, injuries. But the players on the pitch are good enough to win the game.”
RARELY DULL
Matches are rarely dull when Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham are in action and so it proved again as they ended Everton’s four-match winning streak.
Everton old boy Richarlison gave Tottenham an early lead and Son Heung-min doubled the advantage inside 20 minutes to put the hosts in command.
But Everton fought back and wasted a hatful of chances before a clinical low strike by Andre Gomes in the 82nd minute set up a chaotic finale with chances at both ends.
Everton, carrying a 10-point deduction after breaching Premier League financial rules, remained in 16th place with 16 points, two more than Forest.
Luton have 12 points after making it a bad week for Newcastle United with a 1-0 victory at Kenilworth Road.
Winger Andros Townsend netted the only goal, his first for Luton, to secure a win that had added poignancy as it came a week after Luton captain Tom Lockyer, who suffered cardiac arrest in last week’s game at Bournemouth but has since been discharged from hospital.
Seventh-placed Newcastle have now lost three of their last four Premier League games and went out of the League Cup to Chelsea after a penalty shootout.
History was made at Craven Cottage as Rebecca Welch became the first female referee in the Premier League and while it was a milestone day for her it was also a great one for Burnley who beat Fulham 2-0 with goals by Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge.
