How Utd flipped ugly script... and left great red-faced; scary $385m beast erupts — Talking Pts

Manchester United has flipped the script in more ways than one following its ugly divorce with Ruben Amorim, as the Premier League giants took another crucial step towards redemption.

Meanwhile, Arsenal moved a step closer to ending a 22-year wait to win the Premier League title after a dream weekend for the Gunners extended their lead to six points.

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A dominant 4-0 win over Leeds quelled talk of Mikel Arteta’s men wilting under the pressure of being title favourites, while Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped crucial points on Sunday.

Behind the top three, the battle for a place in next season’s Champions League is hotting up as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all secured important wins.

These are the main Premier League talking points from the weekend!

READ MORE: Insane strike rocks title race; 94th-min madness in stunning United revival — PL Wrap

Man Utd roll back the years

Manchester United looked to have blown the chance for a third-consecutive win since Michael Carrick took charge as Fulham struck twice in the final five minutes to come from 2-0 down at Old Trafford on Sunday.

But there was one final twist in a frantic finale as Benjamin Sesko blasted into the top corner to spark wild scenes of celebration in front of the Stretford End.

The drama was reminiscent of United’s glory days under Alex Ferguson when victory was often snatched from the jaws of defeat.

“It’s the best feeling I have to say,” Carrick said.

“People leave here with more than just, ‘United won today’, it’s layers on top of that, the emotion and the feeling and it’s why we all love it so much.”

Suddenly, things feel a whole lot different in the red-half of Manchester.

Victory lifted United back above Chelsea and Liverpool into fourth place, with the top five likely to qualify for the Champions League.

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But it’s the significant lift in the feeling in and around the team, as well as the upturn in form of those stars who struggled under old coach Amorim, that is making United a feared opponent once more.

Sesko’s winner made him the latest star to earn some level of redemption under Carrick.

After arriving in the summer from RB Leipzig for a whopping £74m (A$146m), Sesko started slow in United colours and under Amorim. The former coach was critical of Sesko early, in November calling him a “control freak” who was “going to struggle” because he wasn’t “relaxed” enough.

On Monday, he was sending Old Trafford into a state of old-school delirium with new boss Carrick striking a much different tune when speaking about the striker.

“Ben’s a big talent,” Carrick said. “He’s got so many positive things and today’s a huge goal because that feeling as a striker to score a winner in front of the Stretford End and end it late like that, it’s what you dream of.

“After missing a chance, to go again and put that away, I’m so pleased for him. He really deserves it.”

Sesko is far from the only player benefiting from the breath of fresh air.

Kobee Mainoo was regularly shunned by Amorim leading to rumours of an exit in January. But he’s now impressing in the starting XI under Carrick, and in a midfield alongside Casemiro — another star who has gone from maligned to crucial.

Liverpool great Jamie Carragher once infamously said after a poor display for United that Casemiro was no longer fit for the Premier League.

But after three performances under Carrick, he’s completely changed his tune on Casemiro, who will end his United stay at the end of the season.

“It is now fair to say the football has not left him,” Carragher said on Super Sunday Extra Time.

“Casemiro is well within his rights to, if he wants to come back at me and say, ‘leave the punditry before the punditry’s left you!’ He could definitely get one of those back in. Credit to him, he looks a completely different player.

“He looks like a different player physically as well. Even when I said that, you looked at him and he looked like an old man coming to the end of his time as a player.

“And whether he let himself go a little bit, or now he’s being ultra professional, physically, he looks completely different.”

Furthermore, key summer recruit Matheus Cunha has scored in consecutive matches, while fellow signing Bryan Mbuemo has returned from AFCON to add additional firepower.

United has now won three matches in a row, with the first two coming against the Premier League’s top-two sides, Manchester City and Arsenal.

Incredibly, United — who finished 15th in Amorim’s debut season — could soon be looking at a top-three spot with a visit from 14th-place Tottenham, and a trip to relegation-threatened West Ham the team’s next two fixtures.

It would be an incredible result for the team that is suddenly one of the feel-good clubs of the competition under Carrick, having been the opposite under Amorim.

For the Daily Mail’s Football Editor Ian Ladyman, the uplift is reminiscent of one the club experienced under great Ole Gunner Solskjaer in 2018 following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.

“If he (Carrick) can provide thrills and spills like this as he does it then he it will be quite a ride for anyone who carries United in their heart,” Ladyman wrote.

“Whatever is to happen in the future, there is an unmistakeable Ole Gunnar Solskjaer vibe about what Michael Carrick is doing at Manchester United. Three games, three wins and more excitement packed in to five hours of Premier League football than Ruben Amorim managed to deliver in more than a year.”

The comparison should also ring alarm bells given the Solskjaer reign also ended after a massive downturn in late 2021, when the club won just once in seven games.

Nonetheless, the short-term relief will be enough to have United seriously considering giving Carrick a shot at finally overcoming the club’s poisoned chalice.

Arsenal’s title to lose

A first home defeat of the season against Manchester United last weekend sparked doubts about Arsenal’s ability to get over the line in the title race.

For the past three seasons they have finished second, twice blowing significant leads in the closing weeks of the season.

But this looks set to be their year, aided by the faltering form of the chasing pack.

The Gunners’ first league win in four games was built on familiar set-piece excellence as Martin Zubimendi’s header and a Karl Darlow own goal gave the visitors a 2-0 halftime lead at Elland Road on Saturday.

They also silenced criticism over a lack of goals from their forwards as Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus struck in the second half.

“We really wanted to show how much we wanted it, and I think we’ve certainly done that,” said Arteta.

City, by contrast, remain a work in progress despite the huge sums spent to refresh Pep Guardiola’s side over the past year.

They should have cruised to victory at Tottenham with a 2-0 halftime lead and the home fans in open revolt.

But Dominic Solanke struck twice in the second half to secure a 2-2 draw that leaves City with just one league win from six games in 2026.

“He (Arteta) will be opening an nice bottle of rioja tonight,” Jamie Redknapp said in response to the City result.

“This is it. I think this is the title done now for Arsenal and I think they can go on and win it by eight, 10 points. I would be amazed if they don’t.

“They have got the players... I think they had been getting a little bit anxious, the crowd... the connection between the two of them. The manager gets a little bit uptight and I think that transmits to the players.

“But I think now, they can start to relax a bit and I would be amazed if they didn’t go on and win this title comfortably now.”

Redknapp’s prediction comes with Aston Villa coming off the boil just as a potential tilt at the title looked possible.

They are seven points back after losing 1-0 at home to 10-man Brentford.

Redknapp said that Arsenal was reaping the benefits of having the Premier League’s strongest squad.

“They have the best players and nobody is really strong enough to compete,” he said.

“Villa are doing incredible things. Absolutely amazing what they are achieving, but they are running out of steam with injuries, and Manchester City’s form just isn’t strong enough.

“They aren’t capable of going on an 18, 19 game run like they did a few years ago.”

Ekitike-Wirtz connection clicks

Newcastle suffered a tale of what could have been as £79m (A$156m) Hugo Ekitike’s quickfire double for Liverpool ruined the Magpies’ fine first half display at Anfield on Saturday.

Eddie Howe’s men deservedly led through Anthony Gordon’s strike until Ekitike displayed his deadly finishing and lightning speed to take his tally for the season to 15 goals.

A long-time Newcastle target, Ekitike had been lined up as a potential replacement for Alexander Isak until Liverpool swooped to take the Frenchman from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Despite Isak’s injury-hit season after his British transfer record £125 million move to Anfield, Liverpool’s splurge on attacking talent is beginning to pay off.

Ekitike’s first goal was brilliantly set up by signing Florian Wirtz who then scored himself.

Wirtz had not scored in his first 22 appearances for the Reds after his £116 (A$229m) million move from Bayern Leverkusen, but has netted six times in 10 games since.

Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter said that the latest match was “a timely reminder of what Arne Slot’s side are capable of in free flow”.

“Finally Liverpool resemble something vaguely recognisable, willing to attack at pace and with risk. Fewer shackles,” she wrote.

“Hugo Ekitike was electric against the side he nearly joined in the summer as Florian Wirtz continued to mock those who ever doubted his Premier League suitability.

“Perhaps it’s too early to declare ‘Liverpool are back’, but signs of uptick are obvious. Slot will hope this confidence sticks as they enter a defining period of the season.”

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