Manchester United eased the pressure on under-fire boss Erik ten Hag with a nervy 1-0 win against Luton, while Premier League title challengers Tottenham crashed to an agonising 2-1 defeat at Wolves on Saturday.
Rocked by Wednesday’s devastating Champions League group stage loss in Copenhagen — the latest embarrassment in a season of low moments — United gave Ten Hag some much-needed breathing space thanks to Victor Lindelof’s second-half winner.
United had suffered five defeats in their previous 10 home games this season, their worst start to a campaign at Old Trafford since 1930-31 when they also lost five of 10 and were relegated from the top flight.
They were also reeling from three losses in their last four games in all competitions as the heat was turned up on Ten Hag.
Against that depressing backdrop, and with the latest ‘Glazers out’ protests from fans outside Old Trafford before kick-off, struggling Luton’s first visit to United since 1991 was well-timed for Ten Hag and his troubled team.
United made their pressure count in the 59th minute as Bruno Fernandes’ corner was cleared to Marcus Rashford, whose cross fell kindly for Lindelof to lash home.
That was enough to lift United to sixth place, while Luton remain one place above the relegation zone.
Wolves’ stunning late show denied Tottenham the chance to return to the top of the table as a pair of stoppage-time goals sealed a dramatic win at Molineux.
Brennan Johnson’s first goal for Tottenham since his move from Nottingham Forest put Ange Postecoglou’s side ahead in the third minute.
Johnson converted Pedro Porro’s cross with a clinical close-range strike.
But Wolves dominated after that and earned a memorable victory thanks to the incredible finale.
Pablo Sarabia finally bagged the equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time when he smashed past Guglielmo Vicario from Matheus Cunha’s pass.
Missing injured stars James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, Tottenham were well below their best and Mario Lemina made them pay in the 97th minute, meeting Sarabia’s cross with a cool finish from 12 yards.
– ‘We ran out of legs’ –
After starting the season on a 10-game unbeaten run, it was Tottenham’s second successive defeat after Monday’s 4-1 loss against Chelsea when they had two players sent off.
“Wolves are always going to come on strong and we ran out of legs at the end,” Postecoglou said.
“It is understandable, a lot of those guys haven’t played. They scored a couple of good goals. It’s a hard one to take.”
Everton climbed away from the relegation zone with a 3-2 win at Crystal Palace.
Sean Dyche’s side took the lead in the first minute when Vitaliy Mykolenko thumped a header past Sam Johnstone from Jack Harrison’s cross.
Palace equalised four minutes later when Eberechi Eze was fouled by Jarrad Branthwaite, conceding a penalty that the forward took himself and dispatched with ease.
Abdoulaye Doucoure restored Everton’s advantage in the 49th minute and although Odsonne Edouard levelled in the 73rd minute, Idrissa Gueye surged clear to win it for the visitors with five minutes left.
Newcastle face Bournemouth in Saturday’s late game.
