The crisis at Manchester United deepened Sunday with a 3-0 home loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League, with under-pressure manager Michael Carrick's bold call to drop captain Bruno Fernandes failing to pay off.
Also, Brighton — the league's surprise package this season — was beaten 2-0 at Liverpool for its first defeat since August.
United's winless run extended to eight games in all competitions after its latest setback, coming four days after a humiliating
4-1 loss at Como in the Champions League that was followed by critical comments to the media by Fernandes about Carrick's tactics.
The Portugal star was left out of the team against Bournemouth in what Carrick described as a “pure football” decision and never made it onto the field, with the visitors taking advantage of woeful defending to score goals through Rayan, Marcus Tavernier and Evanilson.
With United tumbling to 16th place in the Premier League, Carrick's job is under huge threat — barely five months after signing a permanent deal as manager. Disgruntled United fans also chanted against Jason Wilcox, the club's director of football who was the target of recent criticism from defender Lisandro Martinez, and the Glazer family, the majority owners.
United has won one of its eight league games this season — and that was at home to promoted Ipswich on Aug. 30.
That was the same date of Brighton's only previous loss this season, with the south-coast team embarking on a stunning unbeaten run since that included two 5-0 wins and a 3-0 victory over Arsenal.
Liverpool edged a tight game at Anfield, with its goals coming in a four-minute span midway through the first half. Pascal Gross deflected Florian Wirtz's shot into his own net before Alexander Isak turned in Bradley Barcola's cross.
Newcastle beat Crystal Palace 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from William Osula and Harvey Barnes. Hull and Brentford drew 1-1.
Leeds visits Sunderland later.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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