If there was ever any hope of catching Manchester City at the summit of the English Premier League (EPL), it is all gone now as Manchester United and Chelsea both lost their games against Tottenham Hotspur and AFC Bournemouth respectively.
Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen scored within 11 seconds on Wednesday to make Alexis Sanchez miserable on his Premier League debut for new club, Manchester United.
The 2-0 defeat for United realistically ends any lingering hopes they may have harboured of catching runaway leaders City.
Mourinho signed Sanchez this month to bolster his attacking options but Spurs caught the visitors cold at a packed Wembley, Eriksen opening the scoring from the kick-off following a long ball from inside the Spurs half.
The goal, timed at 10.48 seconds, was the first United have conceded in 2018 but despite some bright moments of their own they were 2-0 down just before the half-hour after Phil Jones lashed the ball into his own net.
Tottenham, who announced the signing of Lucas Moura from Paris Saint-Germain shortly before kick-off at Wembley, were a constant threat and had multiple chances to stretch their lead.
Mourinho threw on Juan Mata and Marouane Fellaini in the 63rd minute but bizarrely took Fellaini off just seven minutes later, replacing him with Ander Herrera. The Belgium international took of his shirt and marched straight down the tunnel.
The impressive win for Spurs puts them right back at the heart of the hunt for a Champions League qualification spot, just two points behind fourth-placed Liverpool, while United are a further three points ahead in second place.
In another game of the night, Bournemouth scored three goals in 16 second-half minutes to record a sensational 3-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening.
Callum Wilson opened the scoring for the visitors shortly after the interval before Junior Stanislas doubled their lead with 64 minutes on the clock.
Former Chelsea defender Nathan Ake then netted a third moments later to stun Antonio Conte’s lethargic team.
Meanwhile, at the Etihad Stadium Manchester City beat West Brom 3-0.
With that victory, City now have a 15 points cushion at the top of the table.
At Goodison Park, Theo Walcott scored twice to help Everton to a 2-1 win over Leicester City.
The other games on Wednesday all ended stalemates.
Results
Chelsea 0 – 3 AFC Bournemouth
Everton 2 – 1 Leicester City
Newcastle United 1 – 1 Burnley
Southampton 1 – 1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Manchester City 3 – 0 West Bromwich Albion
Stoke City 0 – 0 Watford
Tottenham Hotspur 2 – 0 Manchester United