Jose Mourinho finally won a big away game in the English Premier League after 18 months in charge of Manchester United.
It came at a huge cost, though.
Paul Pogba was sent off for United in its absorbing 3-1 victory at Arsenal on Saturday and, as a result, will miss the top-of-the-table derby against Manchester City next weekend.
The midfielder made a studs-first challenge on the leg of Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin in the 74th minute and immediately feared the worst. He sarcastically applauded the referee’s decision as he walked off.
Mourinho may be missing his best player for the biggest game of the season but he will nevertheless be relieved to have ended a run of seven away league games without a win against the rest of the so-called ’Big 6’ in the Premier League since taking over at United. His team scored only once in that sequence and the coach was widely criticized for his perceived negative tactics in those games.
Against Arsenal, United again defended in numbers - and required a slew of breathtaking saves from goalkeeper David De Gea - but was devastating on the break. Antonio Valencia and Jesse Lingard scored in the first half after defensive errors from the hosts, before Lingard added a third in the second half.
Alexandre Lacazette scored Arsenal’s goal.
Second-place United trimmed the gap to City, which plays West Ham on Sunday, to five points.
Two more of the chasing pack, Liverpool and Chelsea, also won but Tottenham stumbled again.
Here’s a look at the rest of Saturday’s games:
UNSTOPPABLE HAZARD
Eden Hazard scored twice and tormented Newcastle throughout in Chelsea’s 3-1 come-from-behind win.
His second goal - a “panenka” penalty in the 74th minute - exemplified a display that had the crowd at Stamford Bridge in raptures at times.
Chelsea had to fight back for a sixth win in its last seven league games after conceding a sloppy goal in the 12th. Hazard equalized in the 21st and Chelsea took the lead through Alvaro Morata’s header.
Hazard completed the win from the penalty spot, exquisitely chipping the ball down the middle.
BRAZILIANS SHINE
Brazilian pair Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho sparkled for Liverpool in its 5-1 win at Brighton, the team’s biggest victory this season.
Firmino scored twice while Coutinho added another and set up three as Brighton failed to deal with Liverpool’s ability on the counterattack. Emre Can started the scoring, and it ended with an own goal.
Mohamed Salah, the league top scorer, had a rare quiet day after scoring in his last four league games. Liverpool didn’t even need winger Sadio Mane, who was rested.
SPURS STUMBLE
It is four matches without a win for Tottenham, which is also facing defensive problems after Davinson Sanchez’s straight red card in the 1-1 draw at Watford.
The Colombia defender was sent off in the 52nd minute for clattering Watford forward Richarlison with a forearm to the face. Sanchez faces a three-match ban and Spurs are already without fellow center back Toby Alderweireld for the next month.
Christian Kabasele headed Watford into the lead in the 13th minute, and Son Heung-min equalized for Tottenham in the 25th.
Tottenham is already 15 points behind City.
ALLARDYCE’S FIRST WIN
Three points. A clean sheet. It couldn’t have got much better for Sam Allardyce in his first match in charge of Everton.
Hired on Thursday, Allardyce saw his team struggle to break down Huddersfield in the first half before Gylfi Sigurdsson struck in the 47th. Dominic Calvert-Lewin added the second from Wayne Rooney’s through-ball.
Everton has back-to-back league wins for the first time this season ahead of the Merseyside derby at Liverpool next week.
NIGHTMARE BUILDUP
Crystal Palace survived a nightmare build-up to draw at West Bromwich Albion 0-0 and finally move off the bottom of the league.
Palace manager Roy Hodgson said a train journey that was supposed to take 75 minutes ended up taking 5 1/2 hours because of a breakdown. “Three (hours) of that was spent in a cold, black situation on the train with no lights, no toilet facilities, nothing at all,” Hodgson said.
Already with injuries in defense, Hodgson lost Scott Dann to an overnight illness and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessy to an injury in the warmup.
Palace had only six substitutes at The Hawthorns but ground out a point in Alan Pardew’s first game as West Brom manager.
SWANSEA DROPS TO LAST
Swansea manager Paul Clement didn’t mix his words after seeing his team drop to last place following a 2-1 loss at Stoke.
“The way we’ve been playing,” Clement said, “we deserve to be bottom.”
The Welsh team took the lead through Wilfried Bony, but Stoke struck back through Xherdan Shaqiri and Mame Biram Diouf.
In the other game, Demarai Gray scored Leicester’s goal in a 1-0 win over Burnley.
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Steve Douglas is at www.twitter.com/sdouglas80
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