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Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea have 30 points from 13 games with City
on 29 points and Liverpool, who beat Southampton 4-0 on
Saturday, are a further point behind.
United, with Michael Carrick in temporary charge of the team
following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, left Cristiano
Ronaldo on the bench and fielded a defensive lineup designed to
frustrate the league leaders.
Chelsea dominated the first half, with United sitting deep and
tight with three defensive midfielders in front of a back four
without the suspended Harry Maguire and injured Raphael Varane.
Five minutes after the interval, United hit Chelsea on the break
with Jorginho miscontrolling a long clearance and Jadon Sancho
taking full advantage, latching on to the loose ball and then
racing goalwards before beating Edouard Mendy with an ice-cool
finish.
Jorginho made amends though when he converted from the spot
after a wild challenge from Aaron Wan-Bissaka on Thiago Silva
led to a penalty.
The hosts pushed for a winner and brought on Romelu Lukaku,
returning from injury as a substitute for the last 10 minutes
against his former club, but they failed to find a way through
United's defence with Antonio Rudiger wasting a late chance.
"I am absolutely happy with the performance," Chelsea boss
Tuchel said. "We dominated from the first minute, we were
aggressive and never stopped attacking... We have to swallow the
result. We played very well and I am happy."
United are expected, in the coming days, to appoint former RB
Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick as their manager until the end of
the season and Carrick was disappointed with Sunday's result.
"When you're in front in a game like this, to have it taken away
from you is disappointing," he said.
"I'm immensely proud of the players, it's been a tough week and
some difficult moments for us all but I'm proud of the
response."
THICK SNOW
Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan struck in the midst of a
first-half snowstorm before a late goal from substitute
Fernandinho proved enough to secure a 2-1 win over West Ham.
With thick snow falling for most of the opening half, City took
the lead when Riyad Mahrez drove the ball across the goal and
Gundogan was on hand to steer it home in the 33rd minute.
The snowstorm abated at halftime and an army of groundstaff
cleared the pitch. City continued to dominate but it took them
until the 90th minute to score again when Gabriel Jesus set up
Fernandinho to net three minutes after he came off the bench.
Manuel Lanzini grabbed a superb added-time goal, with a fine
shot into the top corner, for David Moyes' West Ham who are
fourth in the table on 23 points.
Brendan Rodgers' Leicester City beat Watford 4-2 amid heavy
snowfall which reduced visibility and made playing conditions
difficult at the King Power Stadium.
The match began in relatively clear conditions and Leicester
took an early lead from a Watford error when William
Troost-Ekong ducked under a long ball, allowing Leicester's
James Maddison to sneak in behind and beat keeper Daniel
Bachmann.
Watford levelled 14 minutes later after Emmanuel Dennis was
tripped in the box by Wilfred Ndidi and Joshua King made no
mistake in beating Kasper Schmeichel from the spot.
But as the snowfall got heavier, Jamie Vardy fired the home side
ahead with two goals in eight minutes, both created by Maddison,
first chipping the onrushing Bachmann before cleverly heading
home from the near post at a corner kick.
A blanket of snow turned the lush green pitch white in the
second half and as the visibility fell, Dennis nicked the ball
off a back-tracking Timothy Castagne on the hour mark to go
one-on-one with Schmeichel, making it 3-2 with a controlled
finish.
However, Leicester restored their two-goal cushion minutes later
when Harvey Barnes skipped forward on a counter-attack and
squared the ball for Ademola Lookman to tap into an empty net.
Tottenham Hotspur's game at Burnley was postponed after heavy
snow before kickoff made the pitch unplayable.
(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Toby Davis)
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