*Havertz, Mount on target as Bournemouth crash at Stamford Bridge
Nigerian internationals Taiwo Awoniyi and Emmanuel Dennis returned from World Cup break humbled 3-0 along with their Nottingham Forests teammates at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
Marcus Rashford opened the scoring for Manchester United after a well-worked set piece, before Anthony Martial doubled their lead in the first half.
Fred added a third late on but in truth, it could’ve been more for United who missed a whole host of chances and they now lie just one point behind Tottenham with a game in hand.
Anthony Taylor blows his whistle to conclude a fantastic night for the hosts as they run out 3-0 winners.
Earlier, Mason Mount marked his 150th Chelsea appearance with a goal
Chelsea boosted their top-four hopes as they resumed their Premier League season with a comfortable victory over Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Having failed to score in three consecutive matches prior to the break for the World Cup it took Chelsea less than 16 minutes to get up and running with Kai Havertz sliding in an effort at the back post from Raheem Sterling’s low cross.
With the hosts dominant, Mason Mount celebrated his 150th appearance for Chelsea in style, curling a superb effort into the bottom right corner of the Bournemouth net from the edge of the penalty area.
It drew a nod of satisfaction from manager Graham Potter, who will have been delighted by the slick performance his side delivered, particularly during the first half.
Christian Pulisic saw an effort ruled out after Havertz was judged to have fouled Adam Smith, while the German also spurned a second-half opportunity to extend Chelsea’s lead.
The result sees Chelsea move up to eighth in the table, six points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham with Bournemouth remaining in 14th.
The only negative in Potter’s and Chelsea’s evening came with the earlier-than-planned withdrawal of Reece James, seven minutes into the second period, on his return from the knee injury that ruled him out of the England squad for Qatar.
The 23-year-old lay on the turf with his hands on his head before receiving treatment and eventually walking off unaided.
While the Cherries improved after the break, and substitute Ryan Christie forced home goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga into a good save, they rarely looked capable of applying any late pressure to the hosts.
