Latest news about sports from all over the world
Chris Sutton and Conor Coady discuss Aston Villa’s title credentials and their admiration for manager Unai Emery on the Monday Night Club.
You can watch the full show on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport YouTube, or listen on BBC Sounds.
READ MORE: Are Aston Villa in title hunt?
SALT LAKE CITY — Joel Armia scored twice, Adrian Kempe had a goal and assist, and the Kings beat the Utah Mammoth 4-2 on Monday night.
Anze Kopitar also scored and Kevin Fiala had two assists to help the Kings get their third win in five games. Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.
Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Guenther also scored for the Mammoth in their sixth loss in eight games. Karel Vejmelka finished with 23 saves.
Kempe got the Kings on the scoreboard 7:50 into game after he got a pass from Fiala, skated in on Vejmelka and put a backhander past the goalie for his 10th goal of the season.
Armia made it 2-0 at 10:08 as he took a long stretch pass from Fiala and beat Vejmelka from between the circles.
Guenther pulled the Mammoth to 2-1 with a one-timer from the high slot off a pass from Clayton Keller on the power play 34 seconds into the second period. It was his 11th goal of the season.
Kopitar restored the Kings’ two-goal lead at 3:27 of the third on a rebound in front.
Keller pulled the Mammoth back within one with 7:47 remaining, but Armia sealed the Kings’ win with an empty-netter with 1:38 to go.
Up next for the Kings: at Seattle on Wednesday night.
Sport: Football Country: Egypt
Salah, the ‘Egyptian King’, scored 29 Premier League goals and broke a host of records as he helped Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th top-flight title in the 2024-25 season.
He became the first player to win the Golden Boot, the Playmaker award for most assists and the Premier League player of the season award in the same campaign. He was also named as the PFA men’s player of the year for a record third time and collected a third Football Writers’ footballer of the year award.
The 33-year-old became the highest-scoring overseas player in Premier League history, overtaking Sergio Aguero’s mark of 184.
Salah has scored five goals in 18 appearances for Liverpool so far this season, and on Saturday said he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club and that his relationship with head coach Arne Slot had broken down.
MONDAY’S RESULTS
BOYS
CITY SECTION
Arleta 67, Sherman Oaks CES 61
Canoga Park 55, Fulton 28
Downtown Magnets 49, USC-MAE 38
Dymally 37, TEACH Tech Charter 33
Garfield 46, Bell 23
Huntington Park 50, Legacy 36
Jefferson 67, Torres 48
L.A. Roosevelt 47, South East 36
L.A. University 87, RFK Community 47
L.A. Wilson 90, Maywood Academy 43
MSAR 55, Panorama 50
Port of Los Angeles 43, New Designs University Park 38
Sun Valley Magnet 64, Bert Corona Charter 32
Sylmar 93, San Fernando 84
Triumph Charter 49, East Valley 33
VAAS 51, Central City Value 49
Valor Academy 65, Lakeview Charter 21
West Adams 82, Elizabeth 39
Wilmington Banning 48, View Park 38
SOUTHERN SECTION
Arroyo 49, Baldwin Park 39
Barstow 69, Serrano 43
Bellflower 64, Mesrobian 17
Buena Park 54, Cerritos 52
Canyon Country Canyon 86, Colony 57
Etiwanda 71, Quartz Hill 48
Garden Grove Santiago 63, Magnolia 36
Garey 69, Pomona 34
Glenn 35, Samueli Academy 31
Godinez 63, Tustin 60
Great Oak 78, Sage Hill 34
Grove School 71, Public Safety Academy 55
Hacienda Heights Wilson 57, Patriot 43
Hemet 83, Twentynine Palms 38
Heritage 82, Pacific 55
Heritage Christian 62, La Serna 44
Hesperia Christian 67, Cornerstone Christian 36
La Mirada 73, Wiseburn Da Vinci 62
Legacy Christian Academy 62, Moorpark 53
Long Beach Wilson 75, Dominguez 71
Montclair 58, Temple City 57
Montebello 49, Flintridge Prep 47
Murrieta Mesa 74, Rancho Bernardo 67
Newport Harbor 71, California 51
Orange Vista 78, Grand Terrace 42
Orcutt Academy 69, Valley Christian Academy 37
Paraclete 62, Palmdale 59
Pasadena Poly 61, EF Academy 27
Rancho Christian 71, Paloma Valley 30
Rancho Cucamonga 54, Long Beach Poly 53
Rancho Verde 71, Orange Lutheran 67
Riverside Notre Dame 84, Mesa Grande Academy 23
Rosemead 53, Hawthorne 30
Saddleback 68, Santa Ana Valley 41
San Jacinto Valley Academy 89, River Springs 7
Santa Fe 63, California Lutheran 53
Sierra Vista 78, Jurupa Valley 43
Simi Valley 101, Hueneme 43
South Hills 48, Edgewood 44
St. John Bosco 89, Palos Verdes 56
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 69, Long Beach Cabrillo 49
Tahquitz 54, Colton 29
Tarbut V’ Torah 63, Vista Meridian 24
Temescal Canyon 53, Valley View 50
Valley Torah 80, Lancaster Baptist 49
Valley Torah 79, Desert Christian 59
Vista del Lago 46, Kaiser 40
INTERSECTIONAL
Animo City of Champions 66, Animo Venice 61
Buckley 86, Van Nuys 43
Chaminade 67, El Camino Real 66
Hoover 67, North Hollywood 64
Westlake 66, LA Marshall 37
Windward 80, Palisades 60
GIRLS
CITY SECTION
Bernstein 36, Diego Rivera 27
Community Charter 56, Horace Mann UCLA 22
Crenshaw 37, Marquez 20
East College Prep 31, SEED: L.A. 28
L.A. Hamilton 89, Verdugo Hills 47
L.A. Wilson 50, Maywood Academy 19
Legacy 30, Huntington Park 28
Lincoln 46, Torres 40
Northridge Academy 63, VAAS 5
Panorama 53, MSAR 15
Sherman Oaks CES 65, East Valley 10
Sotomayor 41, Jefferson 23
South East 64, LA Roosevelt 15
South Gate 40, Lakeview Charter 24
USC-MAE 47, Downtown Magnets 3
Vaughn 45, Fulton 19
West Adams 54, Elizabeth 8
SOUTHERN SECTION
Aliso Niguel 51, Northwood 36
Bolsa Grande 44, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel 28
California Military Institute 51, United Christian Academy 15
Camarillo 71, Oxnard Pacifica 15
Campbell Hall 57, Alemany 53
Capistrano Valley Christian 43, Newport Christian 10
Carpinteria 53, Magnolia 40
Citrus Valley 54, Victor Valley 50
Colton 38, Bloomington 18
Corona 54, Beaumont 50
Covina 37, Eisenhower 28
Cypress 50, La Palma Kennedy 44
Esperanza 61, Fountain Valley 53
Fontana 48, Chaffey 24
Glendora 78, Riverside North 21
Heritage 54, Hillcrest 39
La Canada 42, Corona Santiago 38
La Serna 70, Workman 4
Loma Linda Academy 38, Vista del Lago 18
Long Beach Jordan 53, Savanna 51
Los Alamitos 60, Heritage Christian 27
Los Altos 54, Chino Hills 50
Lynwood 52, Crescenta Valley 43
Marina 47, El Toro 44
Monrovia 31, San Gabriel 29
Montclair 46, Rim of the World 18
Ontario 39, Colony 33
Ramona Convent 38, Webb 24
Rialto 84, Segerstrom 41
Riverside Notre Dame 62, Mesa Grande Academy 34
Riverside Prep 35, Sultana 27
San Jacinto 43, Cajon 36
San Jacinto Valley Academy 67, River Springs 8
Santa Ana 58, NOVA Academy 25
Santa Clarita Christian 44, PACS 24
St. Margaret’s 63, Placentia Valencia 42
St. Monica 57, YULA 44
Tesoro 64, Dana Hills 10
Trabuco Hills 65, Garden Grove Pacifica 6
Trinity Classical Academy 55, Culver City 40
Twentynine Palms 55, Hemet 36
Viewpoint 43, Notre Dame Academy 42
Vistamar 38, CAMS 18
Warren 56, Silverado 50
West Valley 38, Anza Hamilton 35
Wiseburn Da Vinci 54, Westminster 23
INTERSECTIONAL
Cantwell-Sacred Heart 52, Narbonne 44
Compton 81, Dorsey 7
Compton Centennial 44, LA Jordan 16
Dominguez 50, Rancho Dominguez 21
King/Drew 55, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 49
Lawndale 56, LACES 43
Taft 45, Calabasas 42
Venice 64, Gahr 26
Wilmington Banning 69, Firebaugh 3
Watch highlights as Burton Albion beat Brackley Town 3-1 to reach the FA Cup third round, thanks to a hat-trick from Tyrese Shade.
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ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s been an offseason of few acquisitions thus far for the Dodgers.
So much so that, on the first day of MLB’s annual winter meetings at the Signia by Hilton Orlando on Monday, the most intriguing rumor surrounding the team had to do with a potential subtraction from their big-league roster.
According to multiple reports, Teoscar Hernández has come up in the Dodgers’ trade talks with other teams this winter. USA Today went as far as saying the club was “shopping” the two-time All-Star, who is entering the second season of the three-year, $66-million deal he signed last offseason.
However, both manager Dave Roberts and general manager Brandon Gomes downplayed that notion while addressing reporters on Monday.
Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández hits a sacrifice fly to score Dodgers’ Will Smith during the Game 7 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Nov. 1.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“Teo certainly fits [our roster still],” Roberts said. “He’s helped us win two championships. He’s one of my favorites.”
“That doesn’t feel likely,” Gomes added of the possibility of trading Hernández. “Obviously, you can never say never on those types of things. I know that’s come up [in reports]. But that’s not something we anticipate at all.”
The idea of the Dodgers trading Hernández has felt like a long shot from the start. Though the 33-year-old slugger suffered an inconsistent and injury-plagued regular season in 2025 — both at the plate, where he had 25 home runs but hit only .247, and especially defensively, where he had several notable lapses after moving to right field — the 10-year veteran has made crucial contributions in each of the Dodgers’ two World Series runs the last couple years, and has served in a mentor role to young players in the clubhouse; none more so than Andy Pages.
Granted, moving Hernández could help the Dodgers get younger, which has been a goal for the front office this offseason as they try to navigate their aging and expensive roster. And his salary could be repurposed if the team were to make a splashier free-agent signing.
But for now, the Dodgers continue to express belief in their current core, with Roberts noting Monday that “we’re very confident with where the roster is right now” and that “there’s really no big splash we feel needs to be made.”
Plus, moving Hernández would also only further exacerbate the team’s pre-existing need for outfield help, as the club continues to evaluate both the free agent market (where players such as Cody Bellinger or Harrison Bader figure to be better, and more affordable, fits than a likely $400-million signing of top free-agent option Kyle Tucker) and trade possibilities (such as Brendan Donovan or Lars Nootbaar of the St. Louis Cardinals, Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu of the Boston Red Sox or — in a less likely scenario — Steven Kwan of the Cleveland Guardians).
Roberts did leave the door open to potentially moving Hernández back to left field, where he spent the majority of 2024 for the Dodgers before shifting over to his more natural right field position last year.
Still, in Roberts’ eyes, Hernández’s defense was “at least average” in right after an August series in Colorado when he made a couple particularly glaring mistakes on fly balls. His career-long defensive metrics have also been stronger in right field than left.
“I do think that with the versatility [of our roster] and how we potentially shape this roster, there’s some options,” Roberts said. “But right now, he’s our right fielder.”
Hugo Ekitike
With Liverpool and Mohamed Salah appearing to be moving in different directions – and Salah heading to join his Egypt team-mates for the Africa Cup of Nations next week anyway – the Reds need other players to step up and fill the Salah-shaped hole in the scoring charts. In Hugo Ekitike, they may have found that man.
Ekitike is now Liverpool’s leading Premier League scorer with five goals, while in all competitions he also tops the charts with eight. On Saturday at Elland Road, the Frenchman scored the first double of his Liverpool career, and with the goals coming in the 48th and 50th minutes, he was the first Premier League player to score twice in the opening five minutes of the second half since Raheem Sterling in March 2019 for Manchester City against Watford.
He led all players in the match for shots (5), shots on target (3) and touches in the opposition box (9) and his only disappointment must have been the scoreline – he was the first Liverpool player to score two goals in a Premier League and not win since Salah last December in a 3-3 draw with Newcastle.
Rayan Cherki
Despite playing just 398 minutes in the Premier League this season, no player has more assists than Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki (5), with two of those coming in the 3-0 victory over Sunderland.
Cherki created six chances in open play, the joint most by a player in a Premier League game this season, while at 22 years and 111 days on Saturday he was the second-youngest Manchester City player to achieve that in a Premier League game, older only than – maybe surprisingly – Mario Balotelli in February 2012 against Blackburn Rovers.
Among players to play 300 minutes in the Premier League, no player has created more chances per 90 minutes than Cherki (3.4) and only four have had more touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes (7.7). The Frenchman is currently assisting a goal, on average, every 80 minutes – also a league best.
Bruno Guimaraes
Bruno Guimaraes has taken 10 corners in the Premier League this season and it is clear which one of those was most memorable – his in-swinging delivery on Saturday against Burnley caught his former team-mate Martin Dubravka out to give the Magpies the lead.
It was not the first Premier League goal direct from a corner (or ‘Olympico goal’ as it’s known) but it was Newcastle’s first ever corner to be put directly into the opponent’s goal in the Premier League, to give Guimaraes a slice of Magpies history. Given the term Olympico goal originates from South America, it seems apt that four of the past seven direct corner goals have been scored by players from that continent – all, in fact, from Brazil. Those scorers are Matheus Pereira, Douglas Luiz, Matheus Cunha and Guimaraes.
Aside from swinging corners directly into the net, Guimaraes has been in excellent recent form – he now has four goals and two assists across his past nine Premier League appearances, scoring five in total this season. Only in 2023-24 has he ever scored more in one season, netting seven times.
From Thuc Nhi Nguyen: LeBron James needed to send this message.
He still sits on his throne.
The Lakers superstar scored 10 consecutive points late in the fourth quarter to seal a 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, finishing with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists to help the Lakers (17-6) nab two wins out of a difficult three-game trip.
Philadelphia (13-10) crawled back from a 10-point deficit in the third quarter and tied the score with 1:28 remaining on a shot by Joel Embiid. James answered with the fadeaway three-pointer over Quentin Grimes to put the Lakers up by three with 1:11 left. He all but iced the game with a 20-foot fadeaway shot over Grimes with 27.3 seconds remaining.
Running back up the court, James held both hands low to the ground in a “too small” signal. He placed an imaginary crown on his head. He soaked in the roars from the crowd and punctuated it with his signature silencer celebration.
“That was vintage Bron,” said Luka Doncic, who finished with 31 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists after a two-game absence for the birth of his second child. “We’re happy he was there to save us.”
James played in his 1,015th win, passing Robert Parish for the second most in NBA history. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record with 1,074. The Lakers won for the first time in Philadelphia since Dec. 16, 2016.
From Gary Klein: There was no time for players and fans to send Rams coach Sean McVay get-well-soon cards.
A day after deciding not to travel with the team for fear of spreading stomach-flu symptoms, McVay arrived Sunday morning.
McVay fist-bumped players during warmups at State Farm Stadium, his trademark gelled hair spikes in full effect. And he looked none the worse for the wear while roaming the sideline sockless and calling plays against the Arizona Cardinals.
McVay and his players were feeling good after the Rams routed the Cardinals, 45-17.
Matthew Stafford passed for three touchdowns, Puka Nacua caught two touchdown passes in a game for the first time in his career, and Blake Corum rushed for a career-high 128 yards and two touchdowns as the Rams bounced back from a loss to the Carolina Panthers and improved to 10-3, reclaiming the top spot in the NFC.
From Jack Harris: Fernando Valenzuela was once more denied induction to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fourteen months removed from his death at the age of 63 in October 2024, and 27 years removed from the end of a pitching career measured by more than just wins, losses and ERA, Valenzuela failed to be elected for the 2026 Hall of Fame class by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee — a 16-person group that once every three years considers players from the 1980s or later who had not been elected to the Hall through the traditional media vote.
Needing 12 votes from that committee to attain Hall of Fame status, Valenzuela instead came up short by receiving fewer than five.
Because Valenzuela didn’t receive five votes, he will be ineligible to be back on the Contemporary Era Committee’s ballot in 2028. The next time the committee could review his case won’t be until 2031.
Until then, his name will remain among the most notable snubs from Hall of Fame induction.
Former Dodgers slugger and noted curmudgeon Jeff Kent voted into the Hall of Fame
From Ryan Kartje: For the 11th straight season and fourth time under coach Lincoln Riley, USC finished its season on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff field.
But it will get to finish this football season with a first.
USC will face Texas Christian in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30, a source not authorized to discuss the matchup publicly confirmed to The Times. The Trojans never have spent the bowl season in San Antonio, where the Alamo Bowl has been played since 1993.
Their opponent comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the Horned Frogs finished the regular season 8-4 in a tie for fifth in the Big 12. The Alamo Bowl gets first selection of Big 12 teams and could have chosen Brigham Young, which lost in the Big 12 title game and, like USC, finished within one win of the playoff field. But the bowl presumably passed on the Cougars because they took part in the game last season.
From Ryan Kartje: Jazzy Davidson glanced at the basket with less than two minutes left in USC’s Big Ten opener and in a split-second’s time considered her options. Nearly nothing had fallen from three-point range for the Trojans. It took 25 minutes Sunday just to see one three-pointer drop, and the Trojans had made only two.
But the mere threat of the freshman pulling up from range, even on a night defined by defensive struggle, was enough to give Davidson the sliver of space she needed. After pausing she raced past her defender and toward the basket, lifting for a finger roll that propelled USC past Washington in a 59-50 victory.
The win wasn’t just a significant statement for USC ahead of its heavyweight battle with No. 1 Connecticut next Saturday. It was also a major mile marker for Lindsay Gottlieb, who became the fastest coach in program history to reach 100 wins.
From Bill Plaschke: The ongoing discussions about continuing the expired USC-Notre Dame football rivalry should begin with one basic truth.
Notre Dame needs USC more than USC needs Notre Dame.
The Irish are reeling today after they were stunningly left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff, but they never would have been part of the playoff conversation without a win over Holiday Bowl-bound USC.
The 10-2 Irish lost their first two games of the season before embarking on their usual cupcake schedule.
Somewhere in the muck of forgettable games against the likes of Boise State and Boston College and Navy, they needed a marquee win.
USC showed up in October and gave them the opportunity for that marquee win. Every year USC shows up in the middle of the season and gives them a chance at collecting that marquee win.
From Antony Solorzano: Any time UCLA built a significant lead in the first half, Oregon tried to slow the the Bruins’ momentum with a timeout. The first call came after a UCLA built a 10-point advantage in the first quarter, with the second timeout after UCLA pulled ahead by 19 points.
It didn’t work — the Bruins remained in control of the game.
The No. 4 UCLA women’s basketball team (9-1) earned an 80-59 win over Oregon (10-1) during their Big Ten opener at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday.
Frederico Jucá Carsalade scored with one second remaining to cap a four-goal fourth quarter, and UCLA rallied to beat USC 11-10 to win the men’s water polo championship Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center.
It was the 14th championship for the second-seeded and defending champion Bruins (27-2), winning back-to-back titles for the fifth time.
USC (23-4), the top seed, was aiming for its 11th title — all since 1998 — in a tournament that began in 1969. The Trojans won six in a row from 2008 to 2013.
Leo Carlsson scored two goals and rookie Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist in the Ducks’ 7-1 victory over the road-weary Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night.
Jacob Trouba, Mason McTavish, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who have won three of four. The Ducks took charge with a four-goal second period that featured a franchise-record 27 shots on Chicago’s net, capped by Carlsson’s 15th goal on a fluttering deflection for a 5-0 lead.
Ville Husso made 19 saves for the Ducks, who beat Chicago for the first time in three tries this season. Ryan Strome, Cutter Gauthier and Chris Kreider had two assists apiece.
1940 — The Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 for the most one-sided victory in NFL Championship play.
1942 — Georgia’s Frank Sinkwich wins the Heisman Trophy. Sinkwich ends his career holding the Southeastern Conference record for total offense with 2,399 yards.
1948 — Southern Methodist junior Doak Walker wins the Heisman Trophy. Walker over three years scores 303 points, including 40 touchdowns and 60 points after touchdowns.
1961 — Philadelphia’s Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points and grabs 43 rebounds in a 151-147 triple overtime loss to the Lakers. Elgin Baylor leads the Lakers with 63 points.
1963 — Cookie Gilchrist of the Buffalo Bills sets an AFL record with 243 yards rushing and ties a league record with five touchdowns in a 45-14 rout of the New York Jets.
1977 — Texas running back Earl Campbell wins the Heisman Trophy.
1987 — Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first NHL goaltender to shoot a puck into the opposing goal in a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.
2000 — Shaquille O’Neal sets an NBA record by going 0-for-11 from the free-throw line as the SuperSonics beat the Lakers 103-95. He broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record, who went 0-for-10 for Philadelphia against Detroit on Nov. 4, 1960. O’Neal had 26 points and 16 rebounds.
2002 — Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon sets an NFL record with his 10th 300-yard game of the season, throwing for 328 yards in the Raider 27-7 win over San Diego and breaking a tie with Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Kurt Warner.
2007 — Florida quarterback Tim Tebow becomes the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. He beats out Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, the first player since 1949 to finish second in consecutive seasons.
2011 — Three-time NL MVP Albert Pujols agrees to a $254-million, 10-year contract with the Angels on the final day of baseball’s winter meetings. Pujols’ contract is the second-highest in baseball history and only the third to break the $200 million barrier, following Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas before the 2001 season and A-Rod’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees before the 2008 season.
2011 — The NBA and players union reach financial agreement to end a 161-day lockout, shortening the season by 16 games.
2012 — Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel becomes the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football’s top individual prize after a record-breaking debut. Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finishes a distant second and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein is third in the voting.
2013 — Zach Johnson rallies from four shots behind with eight holes to play and beats Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in golf, at the World Challenge. Johnson holes out from a drop area for par on the last hole to force a playoff and wins when Woods misses a 5-foot par putt on the first extra hole.
2013 — Lydia Ko, a 16-year-old from New Zealand, rallies to win her first title as a professional. Ko, making her second pro start, wins the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters, closing with a 4-under 68 for a three-stroke victory over South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu. She won four pro events as an amateur, taking the Canadian Women’s Open the last two years.
2018 — Kyler Murray, Oklahoma, wins Heisman Trophy.
2022 — American basketball star Brittany Griner is released by Russian authorities in a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout; Griner detained on drug smuggling charges since February 2022.
Compiled by the Associated Press
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
In the one-step forward, one-step back world Manchester United are living in just now, they took a stride in the right direction against Wolves at Molineux.
Whether it is significant or not remains to be seen.
After all, the big win at Crystal Palace nine days ago was followed by a dire draw against third-bottom West Ham.
Before that, a three-match winning run was followed by three games without a win, culminating in a home defeat by an Everton side reduced to 10 men after less than 15 minutes.
Monday night’s 4-1 drubbing of a hapless Wolves was United’s biggest win of the season, equalling a four-goal haul Ruben Amorim’s side have not bettered in the Premier League since he came to the club 13 months ago.
United had 27 shots, their most in a Premier League game under the Portuguese manager. They have now led in games for longer this season than they did in the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign.
Yet Amorim felt compelled to add a caveat, making reference to Wolves’ lack of points on the pitch and mutinous atmosphere off it.
“This is a specific case,” he said. “We faced a team that is really, really struggling.
“You can sense it in every situation of the game.
“This moment for Wolves is really hard, as a team and as a club. We took advantage of that.”
It is why Amorim felt United were in danger of blowing a significant chance to climb into the top six and on the coattails of the sides in contention for Champions League qualification.
New Wolves boss Rob Edwards felt his side played the way he wanted in the final 15 minutes of the opening period. That included scoring their first goal in 540 minutes through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
It wasn’t the script Amorim envisaged. Certainly not one he wanted on a night when Sir Jim Ratcliffe had come to watch and was pictured in animated conversation with director of football Jason Wilcox in the directors’ box.
He told his players this before he left to sit in the visitors’ dugout alone with his thoughts before United re-appeared for the start of the second half.
“We should have finished that half in the different way,” he said. “At half-time, they understood we have everything to win the game.
“If you need to be really distracted, when you look at Everton, that was three points. We could have had two more points against West Ham. Look at the table. Look at the environment. Look at everything.
“We needed to win the second half. It didn’t matter the result.”
Analysing the game for Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher praised the performance but said: “We make the assumption there is a bad result around the corner.”
He is not on his own with that opinion. United have still kept only one clean sheet in the Premier League, against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 4 October. Are they on one defeat in nine, or two wins in six?
After failing to take opportunities to go second, twice, and fifth, they are now sixth. If results go their way, they could be fourth once they have played Bournemouth on 15 December. Equally they could be back in the bottom half of the table.
Andoni Iraola’s men have taken two points from their past six games but they have won 3-0 on each of their past two visits to Old Trafford.
Nothing is for certain at Manchester United these days it seems, and that includes the availability of their players.
Amorim had thought Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt would be available for Monday’s game after missing the West Ham match with a minor injury. He was wrong. Now the manager says he can’t be sure when De Ligt will be fit.
United remain in talks with the respective national associations of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, which Amorim says is a “good sign” but says he “doesn’t know” if Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo will be cleared to play against Bournemouth before they leave for Africa Cup of Nations duty.
“Let’s wait for the middle of the week,” said Amorim.
Asked what moving into sixth place means, he added: “Nothing. It’s always the same feeling. We should have more points. But that’s in the past, let’s focus on the future.”