Bournemouth thrashed Manchester United 3-0 in the English Premier League at a chilly Old Trafford on Sunday and climbed to fifth in the table thanks to goals from Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo.
Bournemouth’s fourth league victory in five matches moved them to 28 points after 17 games, while United are 13th with 22 points and will spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table for the first time in Premier League history.
Huijsen put the visitors on the score sheet when he out-jumped Joshua Zirkzee to head home Ryan Christie’s free kick in the 29th minute. United have been plagued by set-piece issues, giving up two goals from corner kicks against Arsenal and then one to Nottingham Forest earlier this month.
United piled pressure on Bournemouth with shots late in the first half, including three from captain Bruno Fernandes, but it was the visitors who sealed the victory with two goals within two minutes early in the second half.
Kluivert scored from the penalty spot in the 61st minute – awarded after Noussair Mazraoui brought down the Dutch winger – sending goalkeeper Andre Onana the wrong way.
The delighted Bournemouth fans were still celebrating when Dango Ouattara swept a pass into Semenyo inside the box two minutes later. Martinez put up little resistance as Semenyo unleashed a hard shot past Onana.
At Goodison Park, striker Nicolas Jackson struck the post with a close-range header as Chelsea were denied the chance to go top of the Premier League table as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Everton.
The conditions made it difficult for both teams, but they each had chances to win the game. Jackson was also denied from point-blank range by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford as Everton kept a fifth clean sheet in six games.
Chelsea stay second in the table, while Everton are 15th.
Also on Sunday, Wolves began the Vitor Pereira era with an impressive 3-0 victory over Leicester City — who were without the injured Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi– to snap a four-match losing streak and move a step closer to the safety zone.
Pereira, who was appointed Wolves’ new manager on Thursday, made several changes to the starting line-up from Gary O’Neil’s last game in charge and the visitors played with courage and intent to score all three goals in the first half.
With goals from Goncalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes and Matheus Cunha, the victory gave Wolves fans some Christmas cheer as they moved up to 18th, two points behind 17th-placed Leicester.
The travelling supporters sang Pereira’s name after the full-time whistle and the beaming 56-year-old Portuguese approached the away end to acknowledge them.
Wolves took the lead in the 19th minute when Guedes allowed a long ball from Nelson Semedo to bounce and the Portuguese forward took a shot from a tight angle without looking up to beat Danny Ward in Leicester’s goal.
Wolves were gifted a second goal when Leicester right-back James Justin let Matt Doherty’s long diagonal ball go through, unaware that Gomes was stealing in behind him and the winger controlled the ball before poking it past Ward to make it 2-0.
Boos rang around the King Power Stadium as Gomes, who could not believe his luck, celebrated with his teammates while Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy looked on incredulously from the touchline.
Vardy nearly halved the lead before halftime but saw Toti Gomes clear the ball off the line and seconds later Wolves made it 3-0 at the other end for the boos to only get louder.
A Wolves counter-attack saw Guedes find Cunha making a run into the box and the Brazilian expertly controlled the pass to lose his marker before firing a shot across Ward as the ball went in off the far post.
A livid Nistelrooy made changes at half-time and Leicester had more of the ball in the second half, but Pereira’s Wolves were happy to sit back with a three-goal cushion.
In the other afternoon kick-off, Fulham and Southampton played out a 0-0 draw at Craven Cottage.
