approach with junior Ralph Webb recovering from an injured ankle. Web

MANCHESTER, England -- Henrikh Mkhitaryan underlined his growing importance to Manchester United by scoring in a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday, sealing the teams most important victory under Jose Mourinho.Mkhitaryans match ended prematurely when he was carried off on a stretcher in the 85th with a left ankle injury, but by then hed done the damage with his 29th-minute goal at Old Trafford.The Armenia midfielder raced onto Ander Herreras through-ball and drove home a rising shot for his first Premier League goal.Mourinho said Mkhitaryan was man of the match and that his injury wasnt serious, likely keeping him out for about two weeks.For a change, United managed to close out the game comfortably to move three points behind Spurs and six behind Manchester City, which occupies the fourth and final Champions League qualification berth after 15 games.To be honest, after so many matches playing well but not winning, we need more the points than the performance, Mourinho said, but I knew against Tottenham it is difficult to get the result without playing well. We played very well.Mkhitaryan has been slowly integrated into Uniteds first team since his move from Borussia Dortmund last summer, with Mourinho keen to ease the Armenian into the demands of English soccer.Now he is settled, Mkhitaryan is looking the part. And the pace and quick thinking he showed for his goal was something United has been lacking.As soon as Herrera pounced on a wayward pass from Harry Kane in the center of the field, Mkhitaryan was off, running in behind Spurs center back Jan Vertonghen with left back Danny Rose stranded upfield. Herreras pass was perfect and Mkhitaryan took it on before unleashing a fierce shot that flew past Hugo Lloris.In his last four games, Mkhitaryan has scored two goals and set up two others. His injury will set him back once again, however.Meanwhile, the Premier League has now seen players from 96 different nationalities score goals since its inception in 1992.It was a crucial win for United and Mourinho, whose record against the so-called heavyweights of the Premier League has been poor since arriving at Old Trafford. United has already lost to City and Chelsea this season, and drawn against Arsenal and Liverpool.United had the better of the chances in both halves, with Paul Pogba particularly lively in crashing a free kick against the crossbar and having two shots well saved by Lloris.Christian Eriksen was Tottenhams best player and from one of his free kicks, an unmarked Victor Wanyama misdirected a header from the edge of the six-yard box in the 55th.Spurs didnt have a more clear-cut opening for the rest of the match.It was an even game, very competitive, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said. I think a little bit disappointed but not disappointed with our performance. We compete here (in a) difficult game.There were some boos from United fans toward Marouane Fellaini as the midfielder warmed up late in the second half, with Mourinho contemplating a substitution.Mourinho said he heard the jeers and guessed it was a reaction to Fellainis clumsy foul against Everton last week, soon after coming on as a substitute, that conceded a penalty and subsequently a late equalizing goal.He is a player and a person I like and the person is more important, Mourinho said. He will always have my protection.Fellaini came on for the last minute of the match. Cheap Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys . The winner Saturday will remain in the elite 10-team field next year. "We talked about wanting to be disciplined and stick with our game plan and good things will come," Draisaitl said, who had two goals for the victors. Cheap Chicago Bears Jerseys .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. http://www.usnewjerseysoutlet.com/?tag=cheap-new-england-patriots-jerseys .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap. Cheap Jerseys . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason thought it was fun watching Mississippi freshman Shea Patterson in his college debut last week. Defending against the quarterback who just led a big fourth-quarter rally to upset then-No. 8 Texas A&M brings out an entirely different emotion.Weve got our work cut out for us, Mason said.The Commodores (4-6, 1-5 Southeastern Conference) are hosting Ole Miss (5-5, 2-4) on Saturday night with time and games running out to become bowl eligible. The Rebels suddenly have new life with Patterson showing just how effective he could be taking over once they lost senior Chad Kelly to a knee injury, posting a 29-28 comeback win on the SEC road.Mason said the Ole Miss offense remains similar, but the 6-foot-2 Patterson reminds the Vandy coach of another quarterback he had to defend against while at Stanford in Marcus Mariota with the freshman able to run and extend plays while also looking downfield to make a bigger play. That makes containing Patterson, who ran 15 times for 64 yards at Texas A&M, crucial.This quarterback is capable of having a big game, Mason said.Patterson will be making his second straight start on the SEC road, though visiting the smallest stadium in the league will be a much easier trip than going to Kyle Field. Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze isnt worried after what he saw in Pattersons debut. Patterson threw for 338 yards and drove the Rebels to four scores in the big comeback after 21-6.As the game went on, I thought he got more and more comfortable, and the fourth quarter he had for a true freshman in that environment was pretty special, Freeze said.Vanderbilt now has lost two straight and needs its first win over Ole Miss since 2012 to play its way into bowl eligibility. The Commodores are coming off a 26-17 loss at Missouri .---Some other things to knoww about the Rebels visit to Vanderbilt:OLE MISS STARTS FAST: Ole Miss has just a 5-5 record despite having a lead at halftime in nine out of 10 games.dddddddddddd The only time the Rebels trailed was last week against Texas A&M. Said Freeze: Maybe we need to try that more often.COMMODORES NO CUPCAKE: Ole Miss has won three straight games against Vanderbilt including a 27-16 victory in Oxford last season . But this has been a very close series over the past decade. The Commodores have won six out of the past 11 meetings dating back to 2005.RALPH WEBBS HEALTH: The Commodores have been using a running back by committee approach with junior Ralph Webb recovering from an injured ankle. Webb had been leading the SEC in rushing earlier this season and still ranks fifth in the league. But Webb ran for only 46 yards in a loss at Auburn and had just 34 last week at Missouri. He currently has 935 yards rushing and needs 150 yards to become Vandys all-time leading rusher.BOWL HOPES: Ole Miss needs one more win to be bowl eligible for a fifth-straight season. The last time the Rebels made five straight bowls was from 1957 to 1971, when the program made the postseason 15 consecutive times. Freeze said making a bowl matters as a reward for the seniors and with so many underclassmen needing the extra practice.SHURMUR IMPROVING: Vandy quarterback Kyle Shurmur is coming off his best back-to-back games, throwing for 473 yards to rank second in the SEC in November. He threw for 252 yards last week at Missouri, completing passes to nine different receivers. But he also was intercepted twice.---AP Sports Writer David Brandt contributed to this report---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '