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Anthony Martial

Refreshed Manchester United beat struggling Stoke City on night when talk was rife of Alexis Sanchez move to Old Trafford

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MAN UNITED 3, STOKE CITY 0

Jose Mourinho spoke about the mid-season break in Dubai as a time for Manchester United to “refresh and refocus”.

And that certainly looked the case as the Reds brushed past relegation-threatened Stoke City at Old Trafford.

Goals from Antonio Valencia, Anthony Martial and Romelu Lukaku cut Manchester City’s advantage at the top of the table from 15 to 12 points.

And with Alexis Sanchez’ imminent arrival from Arsenal, United’s manager will have extra firepower to call upon as they attempt to make further inroads into City’s seemingly unassailable lead.

Captain Pogba drives Manchester United to first league win in four games at rainswept Everton

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EVERTON 0, MANCHESTER UNITED  2

Paul Pogba put in a captain’s performance in the second half as Manchester United dug deep and fired two goals by Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard past a stubborn Everton side in their first fixture of 2018 at Goodison Park – their first Premier League win in four games.

Pogba captained United with Ashley Young suspended after accepting a FA violent conduct charge for elbowing Dusan Tadic during the Southampton game. Marcus Rashford, who Mourinho claimed was tired after the game against the Saints, was on the bench as Anthony Martial led the line for the Reds.

Everton’s eight match unbeaten run had come to an end at Bournemouth last Saturday when they lost 2-1 to a late Ryan Fraser winner but Manchester United had only won once in their last five visits to Goodison Park, a 3-0 win two seasons ago under previous Reds boss Louis Van Gaal. Wayne Rooney had played the second half in the Bournemouth game after a spell out of the side with illness.

Two of the goalscorers the last time United beat Everton at Goodison Park are now on Everton’s books – Rooney and Morgan Schneiderlin, while Ander Herrera had been out of favour recently but returned to the starting lineup as part of three changes from the side that drew 0-0 with Southampton – Marcos Rojo, Herrera, and Anthony Martial came in for suspended Young, injured Romelu Lukaku, and out-of-sorts Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Everton made seven changes.

Ashley Young’s goal form returns as Manchester United win at Watford

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WATFORD 2, MANCHESTER UNITED 4

Manchester United scored four goals in a match for the eighth time this season but were given a scare in the second half as Watford mounted a late comeback and threatened to take a point off Jose Mourinho’s men.

Ashley Young scored twice and Anthony Martial chipped in during an attacking first half as United sought to reduce Manchester City’s lead at the top of the Premier League to five points with what seemed a regulation blitz from earlier in the season.

Complacency set in for the Reds, though, as Watford’s Richarlison hit the bar before the break before the Hornets pulled two goals back through Troy Deeney and Andrew Carillo late in the second half leaving the home side regretting their first half miss.

Jesse Lingard scored again to quell the Watford rebellion though, and United will be able to go to the Emirates on Saturday for a big game against Arsenal back in goalscoring form.

Manchester United avoid Halloween horror show to beat Benfica

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MAN UNITED 2, SL BENFICA 0 Spluttering Manchester United need just a point to top their group after effectively qualifying for the knockout phase of the Champions League, but it was a night that could easily have turned out to be a Halloween horror show against Benfica. Embed from Getty Images The Reds, who maintained […]