LONDON: Out of the FA Cup, now out of the Premier League’s top four.

Manchester United are going through a rough spell under Ralf Rangnick — and Cristiano Ronaldo currently isn’t in good enough scoring form to get the team out of it.

Ronaldo didn’t even start the 1-1 draw at last-placed Burnley on Tuesday, only appearing as a second-half substitute and failing to score for a fifth straight game. That’s his worst run without a goal at club level since 2010.

The problems run deeper than the scoring slump of one of the world’s great strikers, though.

The way United dropped off in the second half was alarming, just like the team did in the second half of their FA Cup game at home to second-tier Middlesbrough on Friday. United lost a penalty shootout on that occasion.

Also alarming was the defending by England centre-back Harry Maguire that allowed lanky striker Wout Weghorst, Burnley’s new signing, to turn him in the middle of the field and play in Jay Rodriguez for the equaliser in the 47th minute.

That cancelled out the 18th-minute opener by Paul Pogba, starting for the second game after a long injury layoff and probably United’s best player in the first half.

United actually scored three times before halftime but two were ruled out, first for an offside against Maguire — before he blocked off Rodriguez prior to Raphael Varane heading home — and then for an innocuous-looking foul by Pogba.

United fell to fifth place, a point behind West Ham, who were 1-0 winners over second bottom Watford at the London Stadium on Tuesday.

“A frustrating night for us because we should have won that game comfortably,” Rangnick said. “We scored three goals in the first half so I couldn’t blame the team for not having a killer instinct in the first half. In the end it was also a little question of luck. One point for a performance like this is just not enough.”

Jarrod Bowen’s second-half goal secured victory for West Ham but the main talking point was its inclusion of Kurt Zouma, who was named in the starting lineup despite a video — shared widely across social media — showing him kicking and slapping a cat.

West Ham had earlier said it “unreservedly condemns the actions of our player” and Zouma had apologised.

West Ham manager David Moyes said Zouma will remain available for selection, adding: “The club will sort the other side of it out and I’ll look after the football side.”

Watford’s visiting fans relentlessly booed Zouma’s every touch and chanted, among other things, ‘RSPCA, RSPCA’ — referring to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

NEWCASTLE BOOST SURVIVAL BID

Newcastle beat Everton 3-1 in the other game to climb out of the relegation zone and move four points ahead of Burnley.

Everton, meanwhile, are sinking closer to the bottom three, with only three points separating the team with third-to-last Norwich City.

At St James’ Park, Newcastle fell behind to Jamaal Lascelles’ own goal in the first half.

But the Magpies had the perfect response as Mason Holgate’s own goal sparked a rousing revival.

Ryan Fraser put Newcastle ahead after half-time and Kieran Trippier’s superb free-kick rounded off the hosts’ second successive win.

Mired in the bottom three for most of the season, Newcastle finally have their heads above water as they battle to avoid sinking into the Championship.

Unbeaten in four league games, Newcastle are one place and two points above the relegation zone.

“It’s a big result for us. We are in a better place, but football has a way of twisting and turning, so we are not getting ahead of ourselves,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said.

Everton are now in serious danger and new boss Frank Lampard will have been left in no doubts about the size of the task facing him.

Lampard’s first game in charge was a 4-1 win over Brentford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday.

But the honeymoon ended much quicker than the former Chelsea boss would have liked.

Everton have failed to win their last six league games and sit uncomfortably just one point above Newcastle.

“It was a tough game to have as we have only been together for a week. We need to not let our heads drop. The work starts now,” Lampard said.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2022