LONDON — With his team top of the English Premier League, Jose Mourinho enjoyed bragging rights over Pep Guardiola in their longstanding rivalry as Tottenham beat Manchester City 2-0 on Saturday.
Chelsea moved up to second while Aston Villa’s strong early form continued to fade.
A typical Guardiola vs. Mourinho game saw City enjoy the lion’s share of possession, only to be frustrated by Tottenham’s compact defence and sliced apart on counter-attacks.
"Everyone worked their socks off," Tottenham forward Harry Kane told Sky Sports. "We knew in the second half that chances would be available and thankfully we took some in the end."
Kane has either scored or assisted at least one goal in each of his last eight league games. Mourinho was marking a year in charge at Tottenham, while Guardiola acknowledged he had work to do to turn City’s season around after signing a two-year contract extension.
Son Heung-min gave Tottenham the lead in the fifth minute when Kane pulled both City centre-backs out of position, leaving the way clear for the South Korean to latch onto Tanguy Ndombele’s pass and score. With a one-goal advantage, Tottenham was happy to sit back and deflect City’s attacks.
City has yet to score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in three visits since Tottenham moved in last year. Aymeric Laporte briefly thought he had ended that run, but his goal was disallowed because Gabriel Jesus controlled the ball with his arm before passing to Laporte.
City pushed up and left space for Tottenham to counter. Kane had three passing options on a 65th-minute break and he opted for Giovani Lo Celso, who scored with his first action after coming on as a substitute.
Tottenham has 20 points, two more than Chelsea and Leicester.
MANCHESTER UNITED GETS FIRST LEAGUE WIN AT HOME WITH HELP FROM VAR
MANCHESTER, England — Two favourable video reviews helped Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Saturday for its first home win in the English Premier League this season.
First, a review overturned a penalty awarded to West Brom for an apparent foul on Conor Gallagher by Bruno Fernandes.
Soon after, Fernandes stepped up to take a spot-kick after Darnell Furlong handballed Juan Mata’s cross. Fernandes’ first effort was saved by West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, but a replay showed that Johnstone had come off his line just before the Portugal midfielder hit the ball. The penalty was retaken and Fernandes scored.
West Brom fought hard, with substitute Callum Robinson hitting the crossbar, and United goalkeeper David De Gea producing a good save to deny West Brom’s Conor Townsend. Anthony Martial had a good chance to double United’s lead but was blocked by Furlong in stoppage time.
The three points lifted United to ninth in the Premier League, seven points off leader Tottenham. It was United’s first EPL victory of the season at Old Trafford, after a winless run that included defeat to Crystal Palace and a heavy loss to Tottenham. But this wasn’t the kind of comfortable victory which would have shored up the position of United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
"It was important to get the first win at home. Delighted with the points. We know we can do better, but three points are three points and we got a clean sheet," Solskjaer said.
"The league this season, there are going to be ups and downs and inconsistency, unpredictable. The league is not really settling. It is very tight, it is very early on so points are more important than performances sometimes."
Paul Pogba didn’t play with what United said was a minor injury following his time with the France team during the international break. The French player could return when United plays Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League on Tuesday.
United hosted the game a day after the club reported it had been attacked by cyber criminals. The club said it was confident "critical systems" required for matches to be staged at Old Trafford were secure and that it was not aware of any breach of supporters’ personal data.
WERNER KEY FOR CHELSEA
Timo Werner missed chances to score for Chelsea, but he still lifted the team to a 2-0 win at Newcastle.
The Germany forward brought the ball out of his own half on a lightning solo counter before laying it off to Tammy Abraham to score the winning goal. It was Abraham’s third goal in his last three games for Chelsea.
Chelsea had earlier taken the lead when Newcastle defender Federico Fernandez knocked Mason Mount’s cross into his own net. Scoring at the correct end of the field was much tougher for Newcastle, whose first shot on goal didn’t come until a deflected shot in the 82nd minute.
Chelsea ends the day second in the Premier League, above Leicester on goal difference.
VILLA LOSES AGAIN
After its high-flying start to the season, Aston Villa looks increasingly earthbound.
Solly March’s goal from the edge of the box gave Brighton a 2-1 win at Villa, but it could have finished differently after a contentious stoppage-time incident.
March reached for the ball and caught Mahmoud "Trezeguet" Hassan and the referee gave a penalty, only to reverse his decision after watching the incident again. Video review indicated March played the ball.
Villa has lost three of its last four league games, while Brighton claimed its first win since Sept. 20 and now has a six-point cushion to the relegation zone.
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