By Peter Hall
BURNLEY, England (Reuters) – Manchester United needed two stoppage-time goals from Scott McTominay to secure a dramatic 2-1 win over Brentford as Tottenham Hotspur went top of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory at Luton Town on Saturday.
Chelsea claimed back-to-back league wins for the first time since March after thrashing Burnley at Turf Moor and Everton climbed to 15th with their second victory of the season at home to Bournemouth.
Boos rang around Old Trafford at halftime as United went into the break trailing Brentford, staring down the barrel of a seventh defeat this season in all competitions.
Defensive frailties were exposed in the 26th minute when Casemiro gave the ball away and Victor Lindelof failed to clear, allowing Mathias Jensen to slot the ball under the body of keeper Andre Onana, who should have saved it comfortably.
Onana redeemed himself late on, pulling off two tremendous saves in quick succession to set the stage for McTominay’s late intervention.
Substitute McTominay rattled home the equaliser after a goalmouth scramble in the 93rd minute and he was not done yet.
The towering midfielder netted again with a header in the seventh minute of stoppage time to send the home fans wild and grab all three points for his side who climbed to ninth in the table on 12 points, five ahead of 14th-placed Brentford.
Trailing with 92:46 on the clock, this was the latest United had been behind in a Premier League game in which they came back to win.
“That might be one of my favourite moments on a football pitch,” McTominay said. “Two goals at the death was incredible.
“Sometimes we feel like we are in our own bubble with people outside only saying negative things, but we just have to block that out and be better after the international break.”
TABLE-TOPPING TOTTENHAM
With champions Manchester City in action on Sunday at Arsenal, Tottenham went top with a 1-0 win at Luton despite playing the whole of the second half with 10 men.
The visitors had Yves Bissouma sent off in added time at the end of the first half, receiving a second booking for a dive outside the Luton area.
Dutch defender Micky van de Ven scored the only goal of the game in the 52nd minute when he poked home a first-time shot after a cut back from James Maddison.
Spurs remain unbeaten after eight league games, and are now two points clear of City and three ahead of Arsenal, while Luton remain on four points.
Spurs have registered 20 points from their opening eight Premier League games this season and only in 1960-61 have they done so in fewer matches to begin a top-flight campaign.
“A lot of character and resilience, which the team has showed a lot in the previous games before today,” Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said.
“We started really well, should have been three or four up, but then you get the red card and it is a different type of game.”
A much-improved Chelsea moved up to 11 points with a comeback victory at Burnley.
Wilson Odobert scored his first goal in English football to stun the visitors early on, with Chelsea offering little in response until Ameen Al Dakhil put through his own net three minutes before the break.
Having failed to win in their last 19 matches when conceding the opening goal in the Premier League, a run dating back to October 2022, Chelsea completed the turnaround early in the second half, Cole Palmer converting from the penalty spot.
A fine Raheem Sterling goal and a fourth from substitute Nicolas Jackson put the game beyond the hosts, with Burnley remaining in the relegation zone.
A resurgent Everton beat Bournemouth 3-0 to snap a four-match losing run at Goodison Park and claim their first home victory of the season.
Goals from James Garner, Jack Harrison and Abdoulaye Doucoure gave Everton all three points as Sean Dyche’s team moved up to 15th while winless Bournemouth are in deep trouble in the relegation zone with three points to sit 19th.
Elsewhere, Sheffield United remain winless and rooted to the foot of the table after losing 3-1 at Fulham.
(Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Toby Davis)
