LONDON — Manchester United’s dismal run of results in December continued with a third consecutive Premier League draw as it was held 0-0 at home to Southampton Saturday, dropping to third in the standings. United had top scorer Romelu Lukaku carried off on a stretcher early in the game and looked stricken of any thrust or creativity in attack, ending the month with four wins from nine matches in all competitions and without a victory in its last four. Jose Mourinho’s side began brightly and Lukaku came close to giving it the lead in the third minute when he headed a Juan Mata cross over the bar while Jesse Lingard also narrowly missed the target before the interval with a flicked header. Paul Pogba had a late strike ruled out as he knocked Nemanja Matic’s rolling shot in from an offside position when the ball looked destined to hit the post. United began December with a 100 percent record in the league and Europe at Old Trafford but has now failed to win three of its last four home games. The run of results has left it third in the league with 44 points, 14 behind leader Manchester City and one behind champion Chelsea, which moved up to second. Mourinho insisted his side had deserved to win the game and criticized referee Craig Pawson for not giving a penalty in the first half when the ball struck the hand of Maya Yoshida in the area. “I think we played enough to win, with all the difficulties. We started the game and we lost the striker (Lukaku) and we lost one of only two changes I have on the bench in attacking areas,” Mourinho told a news conference. “Then a very good referee, one of the most promising young referees in England and Europe too, had a very bad decision that punished us and then the game was about us missing some important chances.” Southampton came to Old Trafford having been hammered 5-2 by Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day and after selling defender Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool but it was rarely in danger of going behind. It ended a run of 11 league games without recording a clean sheet and moved up to 13th in the standings on 20 points. Dybala scores brace for Juve Paulo Dybala scored a brace as champion Juventus won 3-1 at Verona to keep pace with Napoli as Serie A’s leading duo pulled clear of pursuing Inter Milan, Roma and Lazio Saturday. Napoli won 1-0 at Crotone Friday to secure the symbolic title of winter champions as it topped the table halfway through the season with 48 points from 19 games, one more than six-time defending champion Juventus. But behind them Inter, Roma and Lazio all failed to win. Blaise Matuidi had put Juventus ahead after just six minutes but it took Dybala to unlock the victory after the host hit back through former Juventus player Martin Caceres on 59 minutes. Dybala pulled the Turin giant level on 72 minutes and five minutes later sealed the win — both goals with his weaker right foot — to give him 14 league goals for the campaign. “We all know it was not a good performance,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. “We put the victory at risk after a strong start, because we slowed down, made far too many mistakes, lost the ball repeatedly, and we need to improve on that. “It’s important that Paulo found the net again. He was in a delicate moment where things weren’t quite going his way. “There are still 19 games to go and many points up for grabs, so we have to look at what is ahead of us and that’s Napoli. They’ve had an extraordinary 2017, play impressive football.” — Agencies