MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Bruno Fernandes closed in on the Premier League 's assists record as Manchester United tightened its grip on Champions League qualification with a 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Fernandes provided assists for two of United's goals to take his tally for the season to 16. The record for a single Premier League campaign is 20, with Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne both reaching that mark.
Fernandes, who now has 100 assists as a United player, has up to eight more games to set a new record in English soccer's top division.
Of more importance to United was a seventh win in nine games under head coach Michael Carrick. United is third - three points clear of Villa in fourth.
At the other end of the standings Nottingham Forest climbed out of the relegation zone with a 0-0 draw against Fulham.
Crystal Palace and Leeds also drew 0-0.
Fernandes' double assist saw him set a new club record for United in a single Premier League season - overtaking David Beckham's 15 in 1999-2000.
"It is a huge achievement for me, but the main achievement will be finishing in the top spots at the end of the season,” he said.
United is on course for a return to the Champions League after two seasons outside of European club soccer's top competition.
The top four are guaranteed to qualify, with English teams likely to earn a fifth spot because of their performances in Europe this season.
Casemiro headed United in front from Fernandes' corner in the 53rd minute. Villa leveled through Ross Barkley, but Fernandes was the provider again when Matheus Cunha sidefooted past Emiliano Martinez.
Benjamin Sesko came off the bench to score his eighth goal in 10 games and effectively seal the win.
The victory saw United close the gap on second-place Manchester City to seven points.
West Ham's draw with Man City on Saturday meant Forest dropped into the bottom three.
But it quickly climbed back out of the relegation zone with a point at home against Fulham on goal difference.
Leeds edged further away from the drop zone with a goalless draw at Palace.
Leeds, in 15th, is on 32 points - four clear of the bottom three.
It could have been an even better day for Daniel Farke's team had Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored with a first-half penalty. But it held on for a point even after going down to 10 men when Gabriel Gudmundsson was sent off before halftime.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester United's coach Michael Carrick and Casemiro walk off the pitch after during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Aston Villa in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha celebrate after a goal during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Aston Villa in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes reacts during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Aston Villa in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
CAIRO (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's appeal to China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe” brought no commitments on Sunday as oil prices soar during the Iran war.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told NBC he has been “in dialogue” with some of the countries, and said he expected China “will be a constructive partner” in reopening the strait through which one-fifth of global oil exports normally pass.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS that Tehran has been “approached by a number of countries” seeking safe passage for their vessels, “and this is up to our military to decide.” He said a group of vessels from “different countries” had been allowed to pass, without providing details.
Iran has said the strait is open to all except the United States and its allies.
“We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about finding a way to end the war, Araghchi added, noting that Israel and the U.S. started the fighting with coordinated attacks on Feb. 28 during indirect U.S.-Iran talks. The talks focused on Iran's nuclear program, and Araghchi said Tehran had “no plan to recover” enriched uranium that is under rubble following U.S. and Israeli attacks last year.
“We are intensively looking with our allies at what can be done, because it’s so important that we get the strait reopened,” U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News, adding that ending the war is the “best and surest” way to do it.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it “takes note” of Trump’s call and that it “will closely coordinate and carefully review” the situation with the U.S.
Expectations are high that Trump will ask Japan directly when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets him on Thursday at the White House.
A spokesperson for China's embassy to the U.S., Liu Pengyu, said “all parties have the responsibility to ensure stable and unimpeded energy supply” and that China would “strengthen communication with relevant parties” for de-escalation.
France previously said it is working with countries — President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has subsided.
Meanwhile, emergency oil stocks “will soon start flowing to global markets,” the International Energy Agency said Sunday, describing the collective action to lower prices “by far the largest ever.”
It updated last week’s announcement of 400 million barrels to nearly 412 million. Asian member countries plan to release stocks “immediately,” and reserves from Europe and the Americas will be released “from the end of March.”
Gulf Arab states reported new missile and drone attacks a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates — the first time it has threatened a neighboring country’s non-U.S. assets. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE said they were working to intercept projectiles.
Iran has accused the U.S. of launching Friday's strikes on Kharg Island, home to Iran’s primary oil terminal, from the UAE, without providing evidence.
U.S. Central Command said it had no response to Iran’s claim, and Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, rejected it. Gulf countries that host U.S. bases have denied allowing their land or airspace to be used for military operations against Iran.
Iran has threatened to attack the region’s U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure is hit.
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman during the war, causing significant damage and rattling economies even as most are intercepted. Tehran says it targets U.S. assets, even as Iranian strikes are reported at civilian sites such as airports and oil fields.
Iranian strikes have killed at least a dozen civilians in Gulf countries, most of them migrant workers.
In Iran, the International Committee for the Red Cross said more than 1,300 people have been killed. Iran’s Health Ministry said 223 women and 202 children are among the dead, according to Mizan, the judiciary’s official news agency.
Iran’s government on Sunday showed journalists buildings damaged by strikes in Tehran on Friday. A police station was hit and surrounding buildings were damaged. Some apartments’ outer walls had been stripped away.
“God had mercy on all of us,” said Elham Movagghari, a resident.
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire and more have been injured, including three on Sunday. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, six in a plane crash in Iraq last week.
At least 820 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to its Health Ministry, since Iran-backed Hezbollah started hitting Israel and Israel responded with strikes and sent additional troops into southern Lebanon. In just 10 days, more than 800,000 people — nearly one out of every seven residents of Lebanon — have been displaced.
Israel said it continued to strike Iran. Iran fired missiles toward Israel.
Several strikes hit central Israel and the Tel Aviv area, where they caused damage at 23 sites and sparked a small fire. Magen David Adom, Israel’s rescue service, released video showing a large crater in a street and shrapnel damage to an apartment building.
Multisite impacts have become a hallmark of the war, as Israel’s military says Iran is firing cluster bombs that can evade some air defenses and scatter submunitions across multiple locations.
Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Frankel from Jerusalem. Associated Press journalists Sally Abou AlJoud and Fadi Tawil in Beirut, John Leicester in Paris and Fatima Hussein and Tia Goldenberg in Washington contributed to this report.
This version corrects to say Araghchi was speaking to CBS, not NBC as previously reported.
People gather outside an apartment building damaged by an Iranian missile strike in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People shout slogans during an anti U.S. and Israeli rally outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, March 15, 2026. The sign reads in Turkish: "Leave NATO, close the bases." (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Heavy rain falls over tents sheltering people displaced by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon and Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A cargo ship sails in the Arabian Gulf towards Strait of Hormuz in United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Firefighters extinguish fire at a site damaged during an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Volunteers clean debris from a residential building damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Home Front Command officer works at an apartment damaged after an Iranian strike in Bnei Brak, Israel, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Smoke rises from the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A man photographs the rubble of buildings destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, early Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Smoke rises from the U.S. embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Jabar)
Mourners react during the funeral ceremony for Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Two men ride their motorbike past a billboard of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Fire and plumes of smoke rise from an oil facility in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
A man chants slogan while the body of Gen. Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Defense Council and a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader who was killed in a strike, is being buried at the courtyard of the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
