A summary of Saturday's action in the English Premier League.
English Premier League champions Manchester City will kick off their title defence at home to promoted Southampton on August 18 before facing Liverpool at Anfield the following weekend.
'I cannot wait to play at Old Trafford in front of a full stadium and see all the fans again.'
Manchester City defeated Salford City in the FA Cup, while Burnley suffered a surprising defeat to Mansfield Town. West Ham United and Norwich City also secured victories in their respective matches.
Manchester United's Champions League qualification hopes suffered a blow after an equaliser deep in stoppage time from Michael Obafemi earned Southampton a 2-2 draw in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Monday.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini insists he will not change the way his team play despite suffering two defeats in a week and losing playmaker David Silva ahead of Manchester United's visit on Sunday.
Jim Ratcliffe's company INEOS formally entered the bidding process to buy Manchester United on Tuesday, months after the club owners, the Glazer family, said they were considering selling the club as they explore "strategic alternatives".
Salomon Rondon dented 10-man Manchester United's top-four challenge with a sharp second-half strike to maintain West Bromwich Albion's Premier League revival on Sunday. The 26-year-old Venezuela striker controlled Sebastien Pocognoli's cross from the left before burying the ball into the left corner on 67 minutes against an increasingly toothless United, who had lost Juan Mata to a second yellow card on 26 minutes. The Spain international was booked for not retreating and blocking a quickly-taken free kick before receiving his marching orders two minutes later for kicking Darren Fletcher's shin in a clumsy tackle. United's first league defeat at The Hawthorns since 1984 kept them sixth in the table, three points behind Manchester City in fourth, while West Brom climbed to 11th with a third win in four league games.
Manchester United winger Nani will be out for another month but midfielder Michael Carrick is set to return for Saturday's Premier League clash at Stoke City, manager David Moyes said.
Manchester United suffered an outbreak of COVID-19 among players and staff on Sunday, jeopardising their next Premier League game against Brentford.
'Manchester United must always continue their tradition of bringing through players from the youth academy.'
'I co-operated excellently with him at Chelsea, and the fact that Mourinho is the coach at Manchester was the decisive factor in my choosing my new environment'
Manchester City took a major step towards retaining their Premier League title with a 1-0 win over second-placed Chelsea on Saturday, opening up a 13-point lead at the top of the table for Pep Guardiola's side.
Manchester City went top of the Premier League, at least until Manchester United play at Stoke City later on Saturday, when they beat Everton 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium with goals from second-half substitutes Mario Balotelli and James Milner.
United sacked manager Jose Mourinho on Tuesday after the sixth-placed side made their worst start to a season for 28 years.
Odion Ighalo scored twice as Manchester United beat second tier Derby County 3-0 on Thursday to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals and leave their all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney on the losing side. United will travel to Norwich City in the last eight after the Premier League's bottom club beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties on Wednesday.
But such was Pep Guardiola's team's domination of the Premier League last season that reinforcements hardly seemed necessary and the solitary addition of Riyad Mahrez makes an already potent attack even more fearsome.
Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof made a timely intervention by chasing down a man who stole an elderly woman's handbag in his home city of Vasteras on Monday, Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported.
The 54-year-old Portuguese is nearing the halfway point of his deal and guided United to the League Cup and Europa League titles in his first season.
Manchester United's season, already their worst in the Premier League, hit a new low with their 1-0 defeat to Spurs in that final in Bilbao that denied them a spot in this season's Champions League.
Manchester United dropped their first points of the season after a 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Saturday but ended the day leading the Premier League table after vacating top spot to Manchester City for a few hours.
Arsenal cleared arguably the most dangerous remaining obstacle in their path to the Premier League title by the skin of their teeth as Leandro Trossard's late goal secured a dramatic 1-0 win at West Ham United to restore their five-point lead on Sunday.
Manchester United and Arsenal enjoyed emphatic home wins over Wigan Athletic and Southampton respectively on Saturday to join Chelsea and Manchester City in the top four and give the Premier League table a familiar feel.
Reigning champions Manchester City took the lead after 24 seconds but suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.
Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger will serve a three-match ban for violent conduct following a clash with West Ham United's Winston Reid in the Premier League last Saturday, the FA said on Thursday.
Samir Nasri has left Manchester City for Sevilla on a season-long loan, the Premier League club announced on Wednesday. Like goalkeeper Joe Hart, who joined Torino on loan earlier, the former French international midfielder does not feature in new manager Pep Guardiola's plans.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will not allow his players time off for Christmas as he wants to ensure they are fully prepared for Monday's English Premier League trip to basement team Hull City.
Manchester United and Arsenal failed to take advantage of Chelsea's inactivity in the snowbound Premier League when they were held to draws by Birmingham City and Everton on Saturday. United came from behind to draw 1-1 at Birmingham while Arsenal rescued a point when a last-gasp Tomas Rosicky equaliser earned a 2-2 home draw with Everton.
Defending champions Manchester City dominated the Professional Footballers' Association's (PFA) Team of the Year announced on Thursday, claiming six out of 11 spots.
Jose Mourinho's United side have 62 points and lead the Merseyside club by two with nine game remaining.
As Manchester United prepare to embark on a new era following Louis van Gaal;s departure, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com offers a diagnosis of what went wrong with the most successful Premier League club after Sir Alex Ferguson called it a day.
Armenia midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has joined Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund, the German club said on Saturday. The 27-year-old became the Premier League team's third high-profile signing since the appointment of Jose Mourinho as manager in May, following defender Eric Bailly and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Old Trafford.
If there is one thing that still riles Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, it is the suggestion that his English Premier League success is down to money. After City were cleared of breaking UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which overturned the club's two-year European ban, the Spaniard was in a fiery mood as he railed against the idea that cash was behind the club's two Premier League titles.
Manchester United tightened their grip on second place in the Premier League
Manchester United's troubled season took another turn for the worse when they lost 2-1 to Sunderland in an error-strewn penalty shootout in their League Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
Marcus Rashford scored on his 100th Premier League appearance on Sunday to secure a 1-0 win over Leicester City that kept interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's dream start going at his old club.
If newly rich Manchester City wanted to rile Manchester United during the close-season they certainly went about it the right way -- and not just by spending over 100 million pounds on new players. The arrivals of Carlos Tevez from United, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal, Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn and Gareth Barry from Aston Villa should certainly see City improve in the new Premier League season starting this weekend.
English Premier League club Manchester United suffered the first defeat on their pre-season North America tour when they were upset 2-1 by the 10-man Kansas City Wizards in Kansas City on Sunday.
Arsenal restored their five-point lead at the top of the English Premier League with Eddie Nketiah scoring twice in a 3-2 defeat of Manchester United, including a 90th-minute winner.
West Ham United maintained their impressive start to the season when they beat champions Manchester City 2-1 at Upton Park on Saturday to consolidate their place in the top four of the Premier League.
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