Newcastle rock United as Huddersfield win at last

LONDON: Matt Ritchie condemned Manchester United to a shock 1-0 defeat at struggling Newcastle, while Huddersfield climbed out of the relegation zone after a 4-1 win against Bournemouth on Sunday.

United’s second defeat in their last three Premier League games leaves them 16 points behind leaders Manchester City.Jose Mourinho’s second-placed side, beaten by Tottenham in their last away game, were rarely at their best at St James’ Park and paid the price in the 65th minute.

United defender Chris Smalling was booked for diving inside his own half and from the resulting Jonjo Shelvey free-kick, Dwight Gayle latched onto a header and played a backheel towards Ritchie.

Ritchie’s run was completely untracked by United’s sloppy defence and the Newcastle winger fired low past David De Gea.Mourinho responded by pulling off Paul Pogba after another underwhelming display from the France midfielder.

And United should have equalised soon after, but when Newcastle failed to clear a corner, Anthony Martial saw two shots blocked on the line by Gayle.Newcastle had kicked off in the relegation zone, but a first win in five league games — their first success against United since 2013 — lifts them to 13th place.

At the John Smith’s Stadium, David Wagner’s team took a seventh-minute lead as Alex Pritchard took Mounie’s pass and drilled in his first Huddersfield goal since his January move from Norwich.Junior Stanislas equalised for Bournemouth with a cool finish from Ryan Fraser’s cross seven minutes later.

But Mounie restored Huddersfield’s advantage with a 27th-minute header and the Benin striker netted again from Aaron Mooy’s pass to put the hosts in control in the 66th minute. Rajiv van La Parra converted a stoppage-time penalty to lift Huddersfield out of the bottom three after they had sunk to five consecutive league games.

The Terriers are one point above the relegation zone, while Bournemouth remain in mid-table. Huddersfield’s first league win in nine matches was marred by an injury to Australia midfielder Mooy, who was stretchered off with a knee problem 15 minutes from time.

On Saturday night, Sergio Aguero scored four second-half goals as Manchester City’s march towards the Premier League title continued unabated with a 5-1 thrashing of Leicester.

Riyad Mahrez made his Leicester return after ending his self-imposed exile.However, the damage had already been done for the visitors by the time Mahrez entered as a substitute just after the hour mark thanks to another Aguero masterclass.

Kevin De Bruyne’s teasing low cross was turned home by Raheem Sterling for his 20th goal of the season inside three minutes, but there was a rude awakening for City’s record signing Aymeric Laporte on just his second appearance for the club as Jamie Vardy skipped beyond the £57 million defender before his deflected shot found the corner.

However, Leicester were powerless to stop Aguero after the break as the Argentine took advantage of two more wonderful De Bruyne passes and then an errant clearance from Leicester ‘keeper Kasper Schmeichel to complete his hat-trick.

But the best was yet to come as Aguero smashed a 20-yard drive in off the underside of the bar.At the other end of the table, Swansea’s stunning revival under Carlos Carvalhal continued as Ki Sung-Yueng’s fine strike nine minutes from time earned a 1-0 win over Burnley to move up to 15th.

West Ham also eased their relegation fears as goals in either half from Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic ensured they moved five points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Watford. Stoke remain in the bottom three as Charlie Adam saw a stoppage-time penalty saved in a 1-1 draw against Brighton, while Everton eased past Crystal Palace 3-1.