Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hit out at the Premier League's fixture planners after his team's 3-1 win at Everton on Sunday (NZ time).
United did not return from a Champions League match in Istanbul until early Friday morning but were given the early lunch-time slot on Sunday for their trip to Goodison Park.
"We were set up to fail," claims Solskjaer. "The kickoff time set us up to fail.
"We have been to Turkey, played loads of games this season already, we got back Thursday morning and we are playing Saturday lunchtime, it's an absolute shambles.
"These boys deserve better. Luke Shaw has got injured because of it. It's a hamstring which might be a long one and Marcus Rashford might be struggling.
"The authorities set us up for fail, who is responsible? We've had enough of that. Players this season, in these times, a pandemic, mentally and physically it's draining. Let us play on a Sunday, there's an international break after this, it's a joke."
Bruno Fernandes scored twice and Edinson Cavani grabbed his first for the club in United's win.
Meanwhile, Chelsea hit back in impressive fashion after going behind to crush bottom club Sheffield United 4-1 and move into third place in the Premier League.
David McGoldrick's neat flick gave the visitors a surprise ninth-minute lead but Chelsea responded with goals by Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell before halftime.
Frank Lampard's side bossed the second half and captain Thiago Silva scored his first goal for Chelsea with a 77th-minute header before Timo Werner added a fourth.
Chelsea have 15 points from eight games, one behind surprise leaders Southampton.
Sheffield United are still looking for their first victory of the season and have picked up only one point so far
Elsewhere, Leeds United suffered another heavy defeat with a 4-1 reverse at Crystal Palace.
Marcelo Bielsa's side, who were beaten by the same scoreline at home to Leicester City on Monday, slumped to 14th place with the loss while Palace moved up to sixth, on 13 points from eight games, just three points behind leaders Southampton.
Scott Dann headed Palace into a 12th minute lead with a thundering header from an Eberi Eze corner.
Leeds thought they had drawn level with a nice finish from Patrick Bamford but the effort was ruled out for a narrow offside by VAR.
After that let-off, Palace doubled their lead with a brilliant free kick from Eze, his first goal for the club, as he struck a 20-metre shot into the top corner.
Bamford did score with a confident drive after being set up by Polish midfielder Mateusz Klich's headed pass when he buried the ball in the bottom corner for his seventh goal of the campaign.
But Palace restored their two-goal advantage just before the interval when Helder Costa's sliding tackle deflected a low cross from Wifried Zaha inside the near post, confounding Leeds goalkeeper Illan Meslier.
Zaha also had a hand in Palace's fourth, running at the Leeds defence before slipping the ball to Jordan Ayew who made no mistake.
Also, Tomas Soucek scored in stoppage-time as West Ham United sneaked a 1-0 win over Fulham in the Premier League, although the visitors missed a penalty with the last kick of the game.
The Czech had been largely anonymous in the London derby but popped up in space in the area to steer a shot past Fulham keeper Alphonse Areola.
West Ham's Sebastien Haller and Aaron Cresswell had both been denied by the woodwork but Fulham were given a last-gasp lifeline when they were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
But Ademola Lookman chipped a dreadful spot kick straight into the arms of Lukasz Fabianski.
Victory lifted West Ham into 11th place while Fulham remain one place above the relegation zone.
Reuters
