Manchester United charge to 6-2 win against Leeds

The easy win put United ahead of Tottenham, which swept United aside 6-1 in October but is now mired in problems of its own

Manchester: Manchester United waited 16 years to play old rival Leeds in the English Premier League, and then made it look distinctly second-class. United charged to a 6-2 victory on Sunday, though both teams could easily have scored more, as they roared back into the EPL title race in third.

The easy win put United ahead of Tottenham, which swept United aside 6-1 in October but is now mired in problems of its own. A 2-0 loss to Leicester dropped Tottenham out of the Champions League spots and left Jose Mourinho’s team with one draw and two defeats in an eight-day spell.

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Scott McTominay looked like one of the Premier League’s top scorers as Man United swept into an early lead over Leeds. Defensive midfielder McTominay — who hadn’t scored in the EPL since March — netted in the second and third minutes after he was left plenty of space to run through the Leeds defense.

Bruno Fernandes and Victor Lindelof extended United’s lead amid more static defending from Leeds, with more goals from Daniel James and Fernandes in the second half. Jamie Vardy’s hot form in away games in 2020 continued as he scored one goal and forced an own-goal in Leicester’s win over Tottenham. That took Vardy to 19 goals in his last 19 away games in the league.

Vardy gave Leicester the lead in first-half stoppage time with a penalty after a foul by Serge Aurier, and set up the second when he headed the ball onto defender Toby Alderweireld, who deflected it into the net.

Sam Allardyce is the coach Premier League teams turn to when they need to avoid relegation. But he didn’t have an immediate effect in his first game with 19th-place West Bromwich Albion in a 3-0 loss to Aston Villa.

Sheffield United’s start to the season is the worst of any team in Premier League history, and the misery continued in a 1-1 draw with Brighton which left Sheffield with two points from 14 games.