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English Premier League: United stunned, City go 5 points clear, Chelsea beat Watford in EPL

Promoted Huddesfield stunned record champions Manchester United, while leaders Manchester City thrashed Burnley 3-0 to take a five-point lead and…

English Premier League: United stunned, City go 5 points clear, Chelsea beat Watford in EPL

Huddersfield Town midfielder Aaron Mooy (R) celebrates with teammates after scoring a world-class goal (Photo: AFP)

Promoted Huddesfield stunned record champions Manchester United, while leaders Manchester City thrashed Burnley 3-0 to take a five-point lead and defending champions Chelsea defeated Watford 4-2 in the English Premier League (EPL) football matches on Saturday.

Aaron Mooy (28th minute) and Laurent Depoitre (33rd) gave hosts Huddersfield the 2-0 lead. Marcus Rashford pulled one back for United in the 78th minute but it was not enough for Jose Mourinho-coached second-placed side.

“It’s not fair to say that the mistakes were responsible for the defeat, because the mistakes were in the context of the overall performance. If we are playing amazingly well and then we lose because of an individual mistake, then we can say ‘okay we lost because of an individual mistake’. But no, since the first minute, the game was poor for us. We paid the price and I think deservedly,” said Jose Mourinho in a post-match interview.

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United fell five points behind leaders City, who won 3-0 over Burnley, thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero (30th minute, penalty), Nicolas Otamendi (73rd) and Leroy Sane (75th).

Chelsea, after suffering two straight defeats in the EPL, registered a 4-2 home win thanks to two late goals from Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta and Belgian forward Michy Batshuayi, reports Efe.

Spanish forward Pedro Rodriguez opened scoring for Chelsea 12 minutes into the game, which was held at Stamford Bridge.

French midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the equaliser for the visitors in the last minute of the first-half.

Argentine midfielder Roberto Pereyra netted the second goal for Watford just four minutes into the second-half, but Batshuayi scored the equaliser in the 71st minute.

With just three minutes to go, Azpilicueta scored Chelsea’s third goal.

Batshuayi netted the fourth goal in stoppage time to seal the home victory for Chelsea.

“When we were 2-1 down it was a very difficult moment, maybe the worst moment for us. To come back means these players have great heart and great desire to not accept the situation,” Chelsea chief coach Antonio Conte was quoted as saying by his club’s website.

“This was the third game in seven days, but in the second-half we showed good physical condition. We pushed a lot until the end and we came back from 2-1 down.”

With this win, Chelsea provisionally hold the fourth position in the EPL table with 16 points, one point ahead of fifth-placed Watford. Chelsea are one point behind Tottenham Hotspur, who will host Liverpool on Sunday.

In other matches of the day, Leicester City beat Swansea 2-1, while Crystal Palace lost to Newcastle 0-1 and Bournemouth saw of Stoke City 2-1.

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