Lingard rescues United, record breaker Kane hits treble

With Manchester City not in action until Wednesday’s trip to Newcastle, United are now 12 points behind the runaway leaders.

Ashley Barnes gave Burnley the perfect start in the third minute when he poked home from Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s free-kick.

Burnley hadn’t won at Old Trafford since 1962, four months before United coach Jose Mourinho was born, but they scored again in the 36th minute.

Belgian midfielder Steven Defour administered the knockout blow, bending a superb free-kick into the top corner.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, making his first league start since April after a major knee injury, was hauled off at half-time and his replacement Lingard gave United hope with a sublime back-flicked finish from Ashley Young’s cross in the 53rd minute.

And Lingard finished as United’s hero when he fired into the bottom corner in the first minute of stoppage-time.

Despite that leveller, it was still a frustrating result at the end of a painful December for United, who had suffered a crucial home loss against Manchester City, crashed out of the League Cup at second tier Bristol City and conceded a last-minute equaliser at 10-man Leicester.

“The end product of so much dominance, two goals, is a miserable number,” Mourinho said.

“The boys fought against the 2-0, so nothing negative to say about them. I praise their spirit. We should have won.”

At Wembley, Kane established a new record for the most Premier League goals in a year and will finish as Europe’s leading scorer for 2017.

Kane’s 22nd-minute header was his 37th goal of the year, moving him past Alan Shearer’s previous Premier League record, which was set when he played for Blackburn in 1995.

But Kane wasn’t happy to settle for that milestone and he scored twice more to claim his eighth treble of the year.

His second goal took him to 55 for club and country in 2017 — lifting him above Barcelona’s Lionel Messi to become Europe’s top-scorer over the last 12 months in the five major countries (England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France).

“It has been a fantastic year. To get compared to those players, the Messis and Shearers, is what it is all about. Hopefully 2018 is even better,” Kane said.

Kane’s heroics were the highlight of a memorable Boxing Day for Tottenham as Dele Alli and Son Heung-Min also got on the scoresheet.

– Liverpool run riot –

Liverpool retained their grip on fourth place as Philippe Coutinho’s gem inspired a 5-0 demolition of bottom club Swansea.

Coutinho produced a majestic strike to put Liverpool ahead from the edge of the area in the sixth minute.

Roberto Firmino netted from Coutinho’s free-kick seven minutes after half-time.

Young Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold notched his first league goal in the 65th minute and Firmino scored again a minute later.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rounded off the thrashing in the 83rd minute as Liverpool’s unbeaten league run reached 11 matches.

“The last half an hour was fantastic, a joy to watch. A very deserved win,” Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said.

Alvaro Morata returned to lift Chelsea to a 2-0 win over Brighton that took the champions to within a point of second placed United.

Morata was badly missed during his one-game ban as Chelsea laboured to a goalless draw at Everton in their previous match.

But the Spain striker was back in the line-up at Stamford Bridge and he netted 51 seconds into the second half with a header from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross.

Marcos Alonso sealed Chelsea’s third win in their last four league games with a near-post header from a 60th minute corner.

“Morata is our number nine and is important. Today he played a good game,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said.

Bournemouth salvaged a controversial 3-3 draw against fellow strugglers West Ham at Dean Court.

James Collins put West Ham ahead, only for Dan Gosling and Nathan Ake to reply for Bournemouth.

West Ham’s Marko Arnautovic scored in the 81st and 89th minutes, before Callum Wilson got the final equaliser with his arm from what the visitors claimed was an offside position.

Watford ended a six-game winless run as they beat Leicester 2-1.

West Bromwich Albion are without a win in 18 league games after a goalless draw against Everton, while Huddersfield drew 1-1 with Stoke.