Sports

Villa end winless run, United held

Villa end winless run, United held

By REUTERS

Manchester United's Anthony Martial in action with Newcastle's Paul Dummett during Barclays Premier League game at St. James Park on Tuesday, January 12, 2016. Photo: Reuters

London, January 13 Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to win a Premier League match for the first time since August while a late goal from Paul Dummett earned a 3-3 draw for Newcastle United against Manchester United on Tuesday. Joleon Lescott’s second-half header, fumbled in by keeper Wayne Hennessey, handed Villa manager Remi Garde a first victory in charge, the bottom club’s first in the league at home this season, and ended a run of 19 games without a win. Wayne Rooney’s 79th-minute strike put United 3-2 up at Newcastle but Dummett struck in the last minute for the hosts who had battled back from 2-0 down. West Ham United moved above Manchester United into fifth place after coming from a goal down to win 3-1 at Bournemouth, Enner Valencia netting twice for the London side. Villa were gifted victory when Hennessey allowed defender Lescott’s 58th-minute effort to squirm through his hands. The home team had appeared to be in for another 90 minutes of struggle when Palace’s Wilfried Zaha struck Villa’s post inside the opening minute but Garde’s men held firm. The Villa players, abused by their fans after drawing with fourth-tier Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup at the weekend, this time received a standing ovation as they left the pitch. Newcastle remain in the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-placed Swansea City, but manager Steve McClaren was delighted his side had shown “what we are about”. McClaren’s side trailed 2-0 after Rooney converted a ninth-minute penalty and laid on the second for Jesse Lingard following a swift counter attack. Aleksandar Mitrovic nodded down for Georginio Wijnaldum to pull a goal back just before halftime. Serb Mitrovic then levelled from the spot after 67 minutes when Chris Smalling was penalised for pushing. Rooney’s neat finish put United back in front but Dummett lashed the ball in from the edge of the box to earn his side a point. Dimitri Payet kickstarted West Ham’s comeback at Bournemouth after they had trailed to a fine first-half strike from Harry Arter. West Ham lost striker Andy Carroll to injury early on but Payet levelled midway through the second half with a sublime free kick. The French midfielder then set up Valencia to make it 2-1 in the 75th minute and the Ecuadorean striker thumped in a free kick to seal victory nine minutes later.