Rashford double helps Man United to 4-0 rout of Norwich
Manchester United kept alive their hopes of finishing in the Premier League's top four, with two goals from Marcus Rashford and one each from Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood giving them a 4-0 home win over Norwich City on Saturday.
The result left United fifth in the standings on 34 points from 22 games, five behind fourth-placed Chelsea, while Norwich stayed rooted to the bottom with 14 points.
It also took some pressure off manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following Tuesday's 3-1 home defeat by Manchester City in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final, and ahead of their visit next Sunday to runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Solskjaer was pleased with the performance and singled out Rashford after the striker took his season's tally to 19 goals in all competitions in his 200th game for United.
"Very happy," the Norwegian told BBC Sport. "I am sure the opposition are talking about Man Utd as a very hard working team. That is what I want from my team.
"We reacted today. We can bounce back, and we are taking more than two or three steps forward before one back, because behind the scenes we know we are doing good work."
"Fantastic effort by Marcus getting to 200 games so quickly. He got through most of the game. He is struggling a little bit so we took him off. He kept his cool."
Midfielder Juan Mata enjoyed a rare league start for United and made the most of it as he contributed with two assists, the first when Rashford met the Spaniard's inswinging cross at the far post and side-footed it home in the 27th minute.
Rashford made it 2-0 with a 52nd-minute penalty as he drove his spot-kick low past goalkeeper Tim Krul, who had needlessly hauled down United's left back Brandon Williams with a mistimed tackle.
The lively Mata was at it again two minutes later when he delivered an inch-perfect cross from the right for Martial to head home emphatically into the bottom corner from close range.
United continued to press, and Williams missed a gilt-edged chance in the 57th minute, blazing his shot high into the stands at the Stretford End after a flowing move down the right flank.
The home side got their reward, however, as second-half substitute Greenwood put the icing on the cake with a crisp low shot from 18 metres shortly after he came on for playmaker Andreas Pereira.
Mata acknowledged United needed to be more consistent if they are to earn a Champions League berth.
Palace held by 10-man Arsenal as Aubameyang sees red
Crystal Palace were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired the visitors ahead and was sent off after Jordan Ayew scored a fortuitous equaliser for the home side.
The result provisionally left Palace ninth in the standings on 29 points from 22 games, one ahead of 10th-placed Arsenal whose manager Mikael Arteta criticised his team for conceding a sloppy goal.
“The first 35 minutes is exactly what I want our Arsenal team to play like,” the Spaniard told the BBC. “After that we started to give free-kicks and give balls away.
“In the first 15 minutes of the second half, credit to them because they pushed. We switched off completely for the goal and that’s unacceptable.”
His counterpart Roy Hodgson said Palace deserved the point they earned for their second half pressure.
“The first third of the game wasn’t much fun to watch,” he said. “We realised we’ll have to give up some of our protection – we did that and it started to fit into place for us.
“In the last two-thirds of the game I’m really delighted with the team. I thought in terms of general play and the amount of questions we were asking, we were good value for the point.”
Aubameyang struck in the 12th minute, steering a low shot past goalkeeper Vicente Guaita after he was put through by Alexandre Lacazette, with Arsenal dominating an uneventful first half at Selhurst Park.
Ayew levelled in the 54th minute with a heavily deflected shot which left keeper Bernd Leno stranded after it came off defender David Luiz, as the visitors failed to clear a tame-looking low cross from the right.
Aubameyang was shown a straight red card midway through the second half after a VAR check, following a rash tackle on Max Meyer which forced the Palace forward to limp off injured.
Palace, who gained the upper hand in the closing stages with their numerical advantage, missed their best chance to grab a winner when Sokratis Papastathopoulos cleared a James Tomkins header off the line in the 78th minute.
They were let of the hook three minutes later at the other end as Guaita tipped Nicolas Pepe’s fierce low shot on to the post and then smothered Lacazette’s close-range follow up.
Ings nets late winner as Southampton stun Leicester
Southampton stunned Leicester City with a 2-1 win at the King Power Stadium on Saturday, as a late goal from Danny Ings and a fortunate strike from midfielder Stuart Armstrong helped the Saints log a precious away win.
The in-form Ings, who had missed a slew of chances earlier in the match, struck the winner - his 14th league goal of the season - in the 81st minute after collecting a through pass from substitute Che Adams.
The hosts thought that they had levelled the tie at 2-2 in the 90th minute when Jonny Evans nodded in a free kick from James Maddison, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) judged the defender to be in an offside position.
Leicester had earlier gone ahead in the 14th minute through midfielder Dennis Praet’s first goal for the club, as he tapped the ball in after Jamie Vardy ran on to a lobbed pass and fired a cross into the penalty area.
Southampton levelled five minutes later as Armstrong’s curling left-footed shot went in after a deflection off Maddison.
Southampton were given a second-half penalty when Caglar Soyuncu brought down Shane Long in the box, but VAR deemed that he was marginally offside in the build-up and also rescinded the yellow card issued to the Leicester defender.
Richarlison strike gives Everton 1-0 win over Brighton
Everton striker Richarlison curled a superb first-half shot past Brighton & Hove Albion keeper Mat Ryan to earn a 1-0 win in their Premier League clash at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Ryan promised to donate 500 Australian dollars ($345.05) to the bushfire relief effort in his native country for every save made in the Premier League this weekend and his defenders were also in charitable mood as they conceded a slew of chances.
Everton’s Theo Walcott had two penalty appeals turned down in the opening 20 minutes before Richarlison broke the deadlock seven minutes before halftime, making a quick stop and a tight turn in the box before curling in his effort at the far post.
Leandro Trossard hit the woodwork for Brighton early in the second half while Dominic Calvert-Lewin thought he had added a second for Everton but the video assistant referee (VAR) ruled he handled the ball when scoring and the goal was disallowed.
Brighton brought on experienced striker Glenn Murray but despite some decent chances for the 36-year-old, the visitors could not find the net and Everton hung on for the win.
The Merseysiders are 11th with 28 points from 22 games, while Brighton stand 14th with 24, four above the drop zone.
Dominant Chelsea put three past Burnley
Chelsea made amends for some recent poor home form on Saturday, thumping Burnley 3-0 with goals from Jorginho, Tammy Abraham and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s first in the Premier League.
The home side looked sharp from the kickoff and earned a penalty in the 26th minute when Matthew Lowton caught Willian’s legs as the Brazilian raced down the left. Brazilian born Italian Jorginho sent Nick Pope the wrong way from the spot.
Chelsea top scorer Abraham headed Chelsea’s second from a Reece James cross, the ball slipping through Pope’s hands on the way into the net.
Abraham’s fellow youth-team graduate Hudson-Odoi made it three home goals for Chelsea for the first time in the league this season when he poked in from a cross by captain Cesar Azpilicueta four minutes after the break.
Burnley had enjoyed a couple of bright moments in the first half. Jeff Hendrick put the ball in the net in the 18th minute but captain Ben Mee was marginally offside in the build-up. Mee came close in the 36th minute but Ross Barkley cleared his point-blank downward header off the line.
Chelsea, whose shaky home form in recent weeks included defeats by West Ham United, Bournemouth and Southampton, strengthened their grip on fourth place with the win, notching 39 points from 22 games. It was the fourth Premier League defeat in a row for Burnley, who lie 15th.
