Manchester United win 4-2 at Leeds before visiting Atlético

Manchester United returned to winning ways by beating Leeds 4-2 away this Sunday, on matchday 26 of the Premier League, which allows them to remain solid in fourth position, the last one that gives access to the Champions.

In this way, the ‘Red Devils’ reduce differences with the leader Manchester City, although they are still very far, by placing themselves 17 points away, after the ‘Citizens’ fell on Saturday at their stadium against Tottenham (3- 2) in discount minutes.

But at least the win encourages German coach Ralf Rangnick’s charges ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.

On a rain-soaked pitch, both teams made numerous mistakes and even tactical inaccuracies.

With Raphael Varane on the bench after missing out against Brighton due to illness, Mancun’s defense was solid. Although his center back Harry Maguirre was the one who opened the scoring after a header (34).

Then, another move by Swedish defender Victor Lindelöf led to the Portuguese Bruno Fernandes scoring the second goal (45+5).

But, Leeds leveled the match in two minutes thanks to goals from the Spanish Rodri (53) and the Brazilian Raphina (54).

In another incursion by Jadon Sancho, Manchester United’s goal came through Fred (70), who had entered three minutes earlier. Later, Anthony Elanga, who also came off the bench, ratified the visitors’ victory with the last goal of the match (2-4).

Manchester United had not scored four away goals since February 18, 2021, in a Europa League match against Real Sociedad.

The defensive problems of Leeds, the second worst behind in the English championship, helped the rival team.

The group of Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa remains in fifteenth position, with a five-point advantage over the relegation places.

The day closed this Sunday with the victory of Wolverhampton (7th) over Leicester (11th) by 2-1. With this victory, Wolverhampton snatched eighth place in the table from Tottenham.

— Results of the matches of the 26th day of the English football championship, and classification table:

– Saturday:

West Ham – Newcastle 1 – 1

Southampton – Everton 2 – 0

Liverpool – Norwich City 3 – 1

Arsenal – Brentford 2 – 1

Crystal Palace – Chelsea 0 – 1

Brighton – Burnley 0 – 3

Aston Villa – Watford 0 – 1

Manchester City – Tottenham 2 – 3

– Sunday:

Leeds – Manchester United 2 – 4

Wolverhampton – Leicester 2 – 1

Classification: Pts JGEP GF GC Diff

1. Manchester City 63 26 20 3 3 63 17 46

2. Liverpool 57 25 17 6 2 64 20 44

3. Chelsea 50 25 14 8 3 49 18 31

4. Manchester United 46 26 13 7 6 44 34 10

5.West Ham 42 26 12 6 8 45 34 11

6. Arsenal 42 23 13 3 7 36 26 10

7. Wolverhampton 40 24 12 4 8 23 18 5

8. Tottenham 39 23 12 3 8 31 31 0

9. Brighton 33 25 7 12 6 25 28 -3

10. Southampton 32 25 7 11 7 32 37 -5

11. Leicester 27 23 7 6 10 37 43 -6

12. Aston Villa 27 24 8 3 13 31 37 -6

13. Crystal Palace 26 25 5 11 9 32 36 -4

14. Brentford 24 26 6 6 14 27 42 -15

15. Leeds 23 24 5 8 11 29 50 -21

16. Everton 22 23 6 4 13 28 40 -12

17. Newcastle 22 24 4 10 10 26 45 -19

18. Watford 18 24 5 3 16 24 43 -19

19. Burnley 17 22 2 11 9 20 29 -9

20. Norwich City 17 25 4 5 16 15 53 -38

./bds/rsc/dr

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