Rangnick starts Man Utd reign with win
Ralf Rangnick praised Manchester United's "exceptional" play after starting his reign with a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace on Sunday as Tottenham crushed Norwich 3-0 to extend their recent revival under Antonio Conte.
The new interim manager named an unchanged side at Old Trafford after United beat Arsenal 3-2 in midweek under the temporary stewardship of Michael Carrick.
The German boss was rewarded with a high-energy performance in the first half, backed by a vocal crowd, and although their levels dipped in the second period, the much-maligned Fred produced a moment of magic.
It was the club's first clean sheet at home this season after a series of chaotic performances in recent weeks under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked last month.
"I am very happy with the way the team performed, especially the first half-hour, with the pressing, it was exceptional," the German told the BBC. "The only thing missing was the 1-0 or 2-0.
"The way we defended, we had control of the whole game, the clean sheet was the most important part.
"These are the things we must improve. We need to keep clean sheets. With just one training session, I was really impressed. We did much better than expected."
Cristiano Ronaldo had the hosts' best chances in a bright opening spell as Palace struggled to gain a foothold but the game remained goalless at half-time.
Rangnick threw on Mason Greenwood and Anthony Elanga for Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford to inject fresh energy into his attack as the second half wore on.
Palace was a threat on the counter-attack and Jordan Ayew went close when he fired a great chance wide on 74 minutes.
But it was Brazilian midfielder Fred who broke the deadlock, curling home a superb strike past Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita from the edge of the area after a pass from Greenwood with 13 minutes to go.
It was only the second goal of the season for Fred -- who had been a target for criticism towards the end of Solskjaer's time as manager.
The win lifted United to sixth place in the table, three points behind fourth-placed West Ham.
Spurs are one point ahead of United with a game in hand after cruising to a win against bottom side Norwich -- their third straight victory in the Premier League.
Lucas Moura opened the scoring in the 10th minute when he jinked past a host of Norwich players, exchanged passes with Son Heung-min, and smashed in from outside the box.
Tottenham doubled their lead midway through the second half when Davinson Sanchez smashed home a loose ball from a corner and Son made it 3-0 in the 77th minute.
Conte took over from the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo early last month with Spurs languishing in mid-table and is now making his mark.
"I know for Tottenham it will be a season of work, hard work," said the former Chelsea boss. "Only through the work can we improve and to have the ambition to improve our position.
"I have just started. We have to build a solid base and a good foundation if we want to try to be competitive in the future and fight for something important."
New Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard got the better of his former manager at Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers, in a 2-1 win at home -- the third victory in his first four matches.
Harvey Barnes gave Leicester an early lead but defender Ezri Konsa struck twice to secure the three points for Villa, who climbed to 10th in the table, ahead of Leicester on goal difference.
"There's loads of work still to do," said Gerrard. "It took a few home truths at half-time to sort our issues out, to rejig our shape and a few other things. But all you can ask of your players is to perform. We did that."
Brentford was denied a win at Elland Road as Patrick Bamford scored deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for his side in a 2-2 draw.
- ·New image shows the North Star is changing. And it has spots.
- ·宝兴县灵关镇 分水供应 提高饮用水质量
- ·“关助工程”援助地震伤员
- ·《中国作家》杂志 刊发芦山地震中篇报告文学
- ·How 3D Game Rendering Works: Texturing
- ·爱眼日市人民医院眼科与你有约
- ·不管困难有多大 也要争取省级文明城市创建成功
- ·震后宝兴发放首批创业小额贷款111万元助21名受灾群众创业
- ·Footage of Kim Yo
- ·北川绣娘赴芦山教灾区妇女羌绣
- ·在职责 亲情 泪水中 民警卫晓的坚守
- ·带着感情开展群众工作 反映群众诉求 解决群众问题
- ·When will Trump and Harris debate? The presidential campaigns snipe over ABC News’ rules.
- ·新晋三角“生鱼王”,拍出38000元高价,创历史记录!
- ·名山区工商局结合工商职能开展“中国梦”学习交流
- ·全国人大代表温文星:支持各地探索“三块地”改革 ,精准扶持乡村小微企业高质量发展