The new era at Man United begins with a defeat. Man City wins and reduces the gap with Liverpool
the week began at Manchester United with Jim Ratcliffe completing the purchase of a minority stake and setting out a three-year plan to return the club to the top of English football, knocking local rivals Manchester City and Liverpool “off their perch” in the process. .
It ended with the team being outplayed at their own stadium by Fulham, an opponent in the bottom half of the table, and defeated 2-1 to lose ground in the race for Champions League qualification.
Not only did sixth-place United's four-game winning streak in the league come to an end on Saturday, but fourth-place Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-2. That left an eight-point gap between Villa and United after 26 of 38 matches.
It remains to be seen whether the Premier League will have four or five places in next season's Champions League. Fifth-placed Tottenham is three points ahead of United and has a game in hand.
Failure to qualify for the lucrative competition will be a major blow to United's status, not to mention its finances. It could also spell the end for United manager Erik ten Hag as Ratcliffe looks to raise the standards of the fallen giant.
Dave Brailsford, sporting director of Ratcliffe-owned INEOS and now a member of United's board, was in the directors' box at Old Trafford to see the team concede the decisive goal on a counter-attack in the seventh minute of stoppage time. . Alex Iwobi scored the goal, sealing Fulham's first win at Old Trafford since 2003, and United's players surged forward in search of the winner after Harry Maguire's equalizer in the 89th.
“After a loss, you have to look at the big picture,” Ten Hag said, “and the big picture looks pretty good.”
Douglas Luiz scored two of Villa's goals, with Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey also scoring in their first home win of 2024. One of three defeats at Villa Park this year came at the hands of United.
“If we go into game 33 in the same position, maybe we'll look at the Champions League,” Villa coach Unai Emery said. “For now it's about being among the top seven positions.
Manchester City wins
Second-place City reduced the gap on Liverpool in the title race to one point by beating Bournemouth 1-0, with Phil Foden scoring the winner in the 24th minute from a rebound after that Erling Haaland deflected a shot.
Arsenal will look to do the same when Mikel Arteta's side, who are four points behind City in third place, host Newcastle later on Saturday.
It was Foden's 16th goal of the season in all competitions, already tying his most in a single season.
Everton denied
Relegation-threatened Everton conceded an equalizer in the fifth minute of injury time to draw 1-1 at Brighton. A win would have taken Everton three points clear of the bottom three and ended an eight-match winless run in the league.
Instead, Lewis Dunk headed in a Pascal Gross cross to cancel out Jarrad Branthwaite's first goal for Everton at the Amex Stadium.
Newly hired Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner's tenure got off to a good start as his side beat second-bottom Burnley 3-0.
