LONDON: Benjamin Sesko stretched his hot streak with the winning goal as Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to go third in the Premier League, while Tottenham failed to dispel relegation fears after defeat at Fulham.
Sesko was handed his first start in seven games since Michael Carrick took charge at Old Trafford and rewarded his boss with another vital goal to edge United closer to a return to the Champions League.
Palace had taken an early lead at Old Trafford when Maxence Lacroix outmuscled Leny Yoro to guide in a header from Brennan Johnson's corner.
But United hit back to remain unbeaten under Carrick and take their tally to 19 points from a possible 21.
The game swung on one incident as Lacroix was sent off and conceded a penalty for pulling back Matheus Cunha just before the hour mark.
Bruno Fernandes confidently stroked the resulting spot-kick past former team-mate Dean Henderson.
Fernandes was then the creator for the second as his curling cross was powered in by Sesko.
The Slovenian has now scored seven times in his last eight appearances to quieten critics of his £74 million ($100 million) price tag after a slow start to his career in England.
NO TURNAROUND
Tottenham remain perilously poised just four points above the relegation zone as interim boss Igor Tudor again failed to halt their alarming slide after a 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage.
Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi gave Fulham a deserved half-time lead as they moved up to ninth and back into contention for European football next season.
Richarlison headed in a late consolation for Tottenham, but they remain the only Premier League side without a win in 2026.
The one crumb of comfort for Spurs was defeat for relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, 2-1 at Brighton.
All three goals arrived in the first 15 minutes as Diego Gomez and Danny Welbeck netted for the Seagulls either side of Morgan Gibbs-White's reply.
Forest sit two points above the drop zone ahead of a daunting trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.
The pressure is on leaders Arsenal in Sunday's showpiece match at home to Chelsea later.
The Gunners' lead at the top of the table was reduced to two points after City battled to a 1-0 win at Leeds on Saturday.
Chelsea are also in need of the points after dropping to sixth in the table, with only the top five set to qualify for next season's Champions League.
CITY CLOSE IN ON ARSENAL
On Saturday, Manchester City shrugged off the absence of Erling Haaland to close to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 1-0 win at Leeds, while Liverpool beat West Ham 5-2 to climb into fifth.
Haaland was absent for the trip to the city of his birth due to a minor injury that Pep Guardiola described as "not a big problem".
Without the Norwegian, City were far from their best but ground out a vital three points against a Leeds side that had lost just twice in their previous 16 games.
Leeds were left to rue not making the most of their early dominance as Dominic Calvert-Lewin skewed wide a glorious chance just three minutes in.
Antoine Semenyo instead proved to be the match-winner with his sixth goal in 11 games since joining City last month.
"It was a huge victory to still be there (in the race)," said Guardiola, whose side and Arsenal are still involved in four competitions.
"One game at a time. Recover now and start the real season when there are many, many games and everyone's tired."
Tempers flared at full-time as Leeds boss Daniel Farke was shown a red card for confronting referee Peter Bankes, while Guardiola was also furious at the officials. — AFP
English Premier League results on Saturday:
Bournemouth 1 (Evanilson 64) Sunderland 1 (Mayenda 18)
Burnley 3 (Kayode 45+3-og, Anthony 47, Flemming 60) Brentford 4 (Damsgaard 9, 90+3, Thiago 25, Schade 34)
Liverpool 5 (Ekitike 5, Van Dijk 24, Mac Allister 43, Gakpo 70, Disasi 82-og) West Ham 2 (Soucek 49, Castellanos 75)
Newcastle 2 (Ramsey 32, Murphy 82) Everton 3 (Branthwaite 19, Beto 34, Barry 83)
Leeds 0 Manchester City 1 (Semenyo 45+2)
Played Friday
Wolves 2 (Joao Gomes 61, Rodrigo Gomes 90+8) Aston Villa 0
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
