Man United stuns Man City in Carrick's first game and Liverpool and Arsenal drop points

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United's latest reboot is off to a flying start.

In Michael Carrick's first game as coach, United pulled off a stunning 2-0 win against Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday and lifted the gloom hanging over Old Trafford.

“It’s a great start,” Carrick said.

Goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu sealed victory in the 198th Manchester derby.

“It was a very special day but I’m not getting carried away," said Carrick, four days after his appointment. “It needs to be a regular feeling, that level of performance needs to be consistently what we’re getting."

The former United midfielder is contracted only to the end of the season and has 17 games to convince the club hierarchy to give him the job permanently after Ruben Amorim became the sixth permanent manager to be dismissed since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

He could not have made a better first impression as United dominated all-conquering City. Manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged it.

“The better team won,” Guardiola said. “When a team is better you have to accept it. They had an energy we didn’t have. Congratulations.”

League leader Arsenal could not take full advantage of defeat for second-place City, drawing 0-0 at Nottingham Forest.

United was fifth in the standings, one point behind defending champion Liverpool, which extended its winless run to four games after drawing with relegation-fighting Burnley 1-1 at Anfield.

Chelsea was sixth after beating Brentford 2-0.

Watching over Carrick's first game with a beaming smile was Ferguson. Winning had United fans singing in full voice inside Old Trafford and drowning out City's.

“The supporters were incredible. This could be a magical place,” Carrick said. “To get that feeling is exactly what we want. Hopefully it’s just the start.”

The result could have been more emphatic as United twice hit the goal frame and had three goals ruled out for offside.

United claimed city bragging rights, boosted its chances of Champions League qualification, and dealt another blow to City's title challenge. City's recent winless run was extended to four games. Arsenal's draw left City seven points behind the leader.

Mbeumo fired low into the far corner at the end of a swift United break to open the scoring in the 65th minute. It was the least Carrick’s team deserved in a performance full of attacking intent.

Dorgu doubled the lead in the 76th, converting from close range after beating Rico Lewis to substitute Matheus Cunha’s cross.

Harry Maguire and Amad Diallo saw chances fly off the woodwork and further celebrations were cut short in the 89th when VAR ruled Mason Mount's goal offside. It mattered little by that stage.

Liverpool is still waiting for its first league win of 2026 after being held at home by second-to-last Burnley. The latest dropped points prompted loud jeers from the Anfield crowd.

While Florian Wirtz's impressive recent run continued with his fourth goal in six games, it wasn't enough as Marcus Edwards equalized in the second half.

Coach Arne Slot said he understood the supporters' reaction.

“In my head it wasn’t booing but in my head it was frustration as well,” he said. “We have to give credit to Burnley for defending, clearing balls off the line, all the things you want to see if you are the Burnley manager, trying everything to prevent us scoring.

“But if you, as Liverpool, are not disappointed by having a draw at home to Burnley then something is completely wrong."

West Ham also boosted it's chances of avoiding the drop after beating Tottenham 2-1. Callum Wilson got the decisive goal in added time. It ended West Ham's 10-game winless run.

Arsenal suffered consecutive goalless draws for the first time in 14 years.

Third-placed Aston Villa can close the gap to four points with a win against Everton on Sunday.

Forest became the second team after Liverpool, twice, to deny Arsenal from scoring this season.

Liam Rosenior took charge of his first league game as Chelsea coach and watched his team beat high-flying Brentford 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer, from the penalty spot, scored in each half to end Brentford's five-game unbeaten run. Chelsea also leapfrogged its London rival to sixth in the standings.

Leeds is going from strength to strength. Lukas Nmecha's goal in added time secured a 1-0 win against Fulham. The newly promoted team has lost just one of its last nine games in the league and one of 10 in all competitions.

A day after manager Oliver Glasner confirmed he would leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season, he watched his team lose at Sunderland 2-1 then expressed frustration over the impending sale of captain Marc Guehi to Manchester City.

Guehi is the latest of Palace's star players to leave after forwards Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze.

“I feel we are being abandoned completely,” Glasner told the BBC. “We have 12, 13 players from the squad available and we feel no support.

“The worst thing is selling our captain one day before playing a Premier League game."

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Chelsea's Joao Pedro celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Brentford in London, Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

Liverpool's manager Arne Slot enters to the pitch prior to the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Burnley in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester United's head coach Michael Carrick, centre, arrives ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola walks during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester United's Bryan Mbeumo, left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester United's head coach Michael Carrick celebrates during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Manchester City in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in New York tossed out actor Blake Lively’s sexual harassment claims Thursday against actor Justin Baldoni over their roles in the movie “It Ends With Us,” but he left intact three claims, including retaliation, that will let a jury hear many of the allegations anyway.

The written ruling by Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan came after Lively sued Baldoni last December, alleging sexual harassment among over a dozen claims against Baldoni and other parties.

A trial is scheduled for May 18.

Baldoni and production company Wayfarer Studios had countersued Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of defamation and extortion. The judge dismissed Baldoni’s claims last June.

In his ruling, Liman determined that Lively was an independent contractor rather than an employee. On that basis, he said she was not entitled to bring sexual harassment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law prohibits employment discrimination on various grounds, including gender.

As to retaliation claims, the judge said some evidence might enable a jury to conclude that Baldoni's production company planned not only to damage Lively's reputation but to destroy her career as there was fear she would file a discrimination claim. Lively alleges that a smear campaign has been “devastating for her reputation and career,” the judge noted.

In an analysis of the sexual harassment claims, the judge said Lively's claims had to be viewed in the context of the movie they were working on.

“Lively claims that during filming, Baldoni leaned in and gestured as if he was intending to kiss her, and that he kissed her forehead, rubbed his face and mouth against her neck, put his thumb to her mouth and flicked her lower lip, caressed her, and leaned into her neck, saying ‘it smells good,’” the judge wrote.

He said there was no question that the conduct would support a hostile work environment claim if it happened on a factory floor or in an executive suite.

However, the judge noted, Baldoni was “acting in the scene.”

“Assuming he was improvising, the conduct was not so far beyond what might reasonably be expected to take place between two characters during a slow dancing scene such that an inference of hostile treatment on the basis of sex would arise. At least in isolation, the conduct was directed to Lively’s character rather than to Lively herself,” he wrote.

“Creative artists, no less than comedy room writers, must have some amount of space to experiment within the bounds of an agreed script without fear of being held liable for sexual harassment,” Liman added.

Despite those findings, the judge said some of Lively's claims about sexual harassment may be put to a jury to support two retaliation claims that survived the ruling, including one against It Ends With Us Movie LLC and Wayfarer Studios, and a third claim that was left intact alleging breach of a contract rider agreement against It Ends With Us Movie LLC.

The judge noted that Baldoni once said “pretty hot” after asking Lively to remove her jacket, exposing a lace bra underneath, and that when he was warned that it was inappropriate and distracting to make such comment, he allegedly rolled his eyes and responded: “Sorry, I missed the sexual harassment training.”

Liman also cited a scene in which Baldoni pushed for Lively to perform a birth scene naked and then the scene was filmed over several hours without the set being closed to nonessential personnel.

And in another instance, the judge said, it was alleged that Baldoni volunteered that he had previously been addicted to pornography and Lively said she had never seen pornography.

Liman said it “may be fair grounds for an author or a director to discuss personal experiences, including those related to sex, as part of the creative process,” but the judge wrote that Baldoni may have crossed the line when he later announced to others on set that Lively had never seen pornography.

In a statement, Lively attorney Sigrid McCawley wrote that Lively “looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it become easier to detect and fight.”

She added: “This case has always been and will remain focused on the devasting retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial.”

A lawyer for Baldoni and his production company did not immediately comment.

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August 2024, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.

This combination of images shows Blake Lively at the London screening of the film "It 'Ends With Us" on Aug. 8, 2024, left, and Justin Baldoni at the world premiere of the film in New York on Aug. 6, 2024. (AP Photo)