London, Dec 7 (EFE).- It's been years since Manchester United could compete on even terms against Manchester City, who they have managed to beat in recent seasons but never with the dominance that they did this Saturday (2-1), with one of the best first halves in many a season.

After a brilliant first half on offense and a second marked by United's iron-clad defense, the "Red Devils" attacked the territory of their neighbor with goals by Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to leave Man. City trailing Premier League leader Liverpool by 14 points.

United opted to get things done in a hurry with a kind of blitzkrieg into City territory, and it was only a matter of time until they scored.

That occurred when Rashford was knocked down by Bernardo Silva and was awarded the penalty by the video assistant referee, which he duly converted to put United in the lead 1-0 at minute 23.

Rashford almost scored minutes later, but his shot bounced off the bar. Anthony Martial made up for the near-miss by taking a pass from Daniel James and booting it out of keeper Ederson's reach and into the net: score, 2-0 at minute 29.

After a first half on the offense, United was all defense in the second, though City got some satisfaction when a header into the back of the net by Nicolas Otamendi made it 2-1 at minute 85, and that was the final score.

Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered their third loss in four games in the Premier League here Saturday, falling 3-1 to an Everton side that played with renewed conviction under interim head coach Duncan Ferguson.

The Toffees made their first match of the post-Marco Silva era a memorable one, putting on a spirited and convincing display at home at Goodison Park to lift themselves out of the relegation zone.

Richarlison, a 22-year-old Brazilian forward who recently extended his contract with Everton until 2024 and is a pillar of the club's future, opened the scoring in just the fifth minute when he headed a cross from Djibril Sidibe into the back of the net.

Chelsea controlled possession and had more chances the rest of the first half, but they repeatedly failed to convert after working the ball into Everton's area.

Those failures in the final third of the field came back to haunt them in the 49th minute, when the home side grabbed a 2-0 lead on a goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin after a failed clearance.

Frank Lampard's men finally put the ball in the net three minutes later on a left-footed volley by Mateo Kovacic and then had chances in the ensuing minutes to equalize, with Mason Mount missing just wide of the post in one effort at the 64-minute mark.

But instead it was Calvert-Lewin who struck once again in the 84th minute for Everton to make the score 3-1, a goal that came after the Blues had once again scrambled unsuccessfully to clear the ball out of their area.

Afterward, Chelsea's head coach rued his team's poor defending.

"Yeah, disappointing because ... we gave away three really poor goals from our point of view and didn't do enough with all the possession and chances we had. We need to be more effective in both boxes," Frank Lampard said.

Chelsea stumbled to the loss a day after learning that the club's two-window transfer ban for having breached rules on signing young players has been reduced following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The ruling means the London club will be able to make new signings in January.

Chelsea is currently in fourth place in the Premier League with 29 points. But the sixth-place Wolves could move to within three points of the Blues with an away victory on Sunday over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Everton, meanwhile, jumped out of the relegation zone with the win and are currently in 14th place with 17 points.

In other Matchday 16 action in the Premier League, first-place Liverpool (46 points) remained undefeated with a comfortable 3-0 road victory over lowly Bournemouth at Vitality Stadium.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opened the scoring in the 35th minute when he chased down a pass from Henderson and booted a shot past the Cherries' goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale.

The Reds then doubled their lead shortly before halftime when midfielder Naby Keita finished off a play set up by Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah, who assisted the goal with an outstanding back-heeled pass in traffic.

Liverpool was a class above Bournemouth throughout and could have won by an even bigger margin. But a 54th-minute goal by Salah, who had squandered a golden opportunity just before halftime, proved to be the final score of the match.

The Reds provisionally have a double-digit lead over second-place Leicester and are well on their way to capturing their first title in England's top league in three decades.

Tottenham, meanwhile, continued their strong play under new head coach Jose Mourinho, getting a brace from Harry Kane in a 5-0 home rout of Burnley. EFE msg/mc-cd

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