MANCHESTER United bounced back with a 3-0 win at Tottenham on Saturday as Chelsea took advantage of stumbles by Liverpool and Manchester City to extend its lead at the top of the English Premier League (EPL) to three points. Liverpool blew at 2-0 lead at Anfield as Brighton battled back to earn a deserved 2-2 draw. City is now five points off the top after Pep Guardiola’s 10 men were beaten 2-0 by Crystal Palace at the Etihad. United was humiliated 5-0 at Old Trafford by Liverpool last weekend to leave manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hanging on to his job. But the Norwegian’s decision to switch to a back three and start with a veteran strike pairing of Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani paid off. Ronaldo’s sumptuous volley from Bruno Fernandes’ cross settled United’s nerves six minutes before halftime. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner then turned provider for Cavani to dink the ball over Hugo Lloris. Marcus Rashford came off the bench to round off a badly-needed three points and performance for Solskjaer’s men, who registered just a second clean sheet in 22 games. Chelsea extended its lead at the top to three points as Reece James scored twice in a 3-0 win at Newcastle. The Magpies are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Chelsea and City’s success following huge investment from foreign owners. However, Saudi-owned Newcastle has a battle just to remain in the top flight as the side remains rooted in the bottom three without a league win this season. All the goals arrived in the second-half as James produced two stunning finishes from right wing-back before Jorginho’s penalty rounded off the scoring. “It will never be the moment when we celebrate results on the other pitches,” said Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel. “It’s first of all far too early and second, we want to focus on ourselves.” Liverpool stretched its unbeaten run to 24 games in all competitions, but will feel two points slipped away after another flying start. “It feels like a defeat,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. “In the second-half, we were not good enough. The body language I didn’t like it all.” Mohamed Salah’s scoring streak came to an end at 10 games, but the Egyptian set up the opener as his pass was swept into the far corner by Jordan Henderson. Sadio Mane doubled the home side’s advantage with a back post header before the Senegalese had another goal ruled out for handball after he caught Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in possession. (SD-Agencies) | 