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Rediff.com  » Sports » PIX: Haaland stars as Manchester City go top; Liverpool edge Spurs

PIX: Haaland stars as Manchester City go top; Liverpool edge Spurs

Last updated on: May 01, 2023 09:04 IST
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A summary of Sunday's action in the Premier League.

Manchester City beat Fulham as Haaland equals another record

Manchester City

IMAGE: Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring Manchester City's opening goal during the Premier League match against Fulham, at Craven Cottage, London, on Sunday. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Manchester City claimed top spot in the Premier League for the first time since February as Erling Haaland reached another set of a milestones in a 2-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday.

It took Haaland only three minutes to score his record-equalling 34th Premier League goal of an extraordinary debut season in England, the Norwegian tucking away a penalty.

It moved him level on the Premier League single season scoring record of Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.

 

The Norwegian also became the first player in England's top flight to score 50 goals in all competitions in a season since Tom Waring did so for Aston Villa in 1931.

"Before Winston Churchill was Prime Minister? Wow. Sounds a long time ago," City manager Pep Guardiola quipped.

City were pegged back in the 15th minute when Carlos Vinicius rifled a shot past Ederson but they responded to the setback to carve out a succession of chances.

Jack Grealish was denied by the crossbar before Argentine forward Julian Alvarez produced a moment of magic to beat Bernd Leno with a right-foot shot from outside the area.

City were unable to give themselves a cushion after the break despite several chances and suffered some anxious moments but they held on for an eighth successive league win.

They are now top with 76 points to Arsenal's 75 and also have one extra game to play.

Fulham remain in 10th place.

City's 4-1 demolition of Arsenal on Wednesday had made them red-hot favourites to claim a fifth English title in six seasons under Pep Guardiola but they still began two points adrift of Arsenal as they kicked off at Craven Cottage.

Few sides have ever been as relentless in title chases as City, however, and they duly ticked off another three points to leave Arsenal in their wake.

The games are coming thick and fast for treble-chasing City but Guardiola says his players are 'behaving amazingly.'

"The result was tight and it was always open. (The win) is important but on Tuesday Arsenal will play. The important (game) is the West Ham game, it's a game in hand."

City were soon in front as Fulham captain Tim Ream brought down Alvarez in the area and Haaland's left-footed penalty was low and true and gave Leno no chance.

Without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, City did not enjoy the lead for long as Vinicius dispatched a bouncing ball beyond Ederson to bring the home crowd alive.

Ream was soon to leave the field with his arm in a makeshift sling after a nasty fall and Fulham also lost Andreas Pereira in the second half, the midfielder leaving the pitch on a stretcher with his leg in a brace.

City carved out chances at will with Haaland playing in Grealish in the first half whose shot was pushed by Leno against the crossbar. But there was nothing Leno could do in the 36th minute when Riyad Mahrez played the ball to Alvarez on the right-hand edge of the area and the Argentine engineered some space before firing a right-foot shot across high into the net.

Haaland was denied a record-breaking goal by Leno early in the second half and Alvarez was also thwarted.

City then had some anxious moments with Ederson clawing the ball away from the feet of Vinicius as the striker looked in with a shout of scoring a second Fulham equaliser.

Guardiola's side managed eight minutes of stoppage time calmly and now that they are ahead, few would bet on them not lifting the trophy yet again next month.

Jota seals thrilling win for Liverpool after Tottenham fightback

Liverpool

IMAGE: Diogo Jota scores Liverpool's fourth goal against Tottenham Hotspur, at Anfield, Liverpool. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

Diogo Jota scored deep in stoppage-time as Liverpool clinched a 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in a barely-believable Premier League thriller at Anfield on Sunday.

The Portuguese substitute struck in the fourth minute of added time, one minute after Tottenham substitute Richarlison thought he had earned his side an unlikely point.

Goals by Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah put Liverpool 3-0 ahead inside the opening 15 minutes as Tottenham suffered a horrible case of deja-vu having conceded five in the opening 21 minutes of a 6-1 rout at Newcastle United a week ago.

But Tottenham hit back before halftime through Harry Kane and hit the woodwork three times before Son Heung-min set up a nerve-jangling finale and Richarlison flicked a downward header past Alisson in the third minute of stoppage time.

There was one final twist though as Jota latched on to a mistake by Lucas Moura and fired low past Fraser Forster to spark pandemonium on the touchline.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp appeared to pull his hamstring as he celebrated manically and was also shown a yellow card in the most bizarre of climaxes.

To make matters worse for Tottenham they felt Jota should have been red-carded for an earlier high boot that caught Oliver Skipp's head that was only punished with a yellow.

When heart rates returned to normal the table shows Liverpool now above Tottenham in fifth place with 56 points from 33 games, to Tottenham's 54 from 34,

Liverpool, who have won four games in a row, are not out of the battle for a top-four finish but are seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United who have a game in hand and nine points behind third-placed Newcastle United who have played 33.

"Crazy. What a game. These are the games we love to play in. A fantastic ending to a game. Stuff you love to see to be honest," Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports.

"It's not so much relief it's just celebration. It's pushing to get the winner again. We go from disappointment to sheer joy in a matter of minutes. Outstanding way to win a game."

For Tottenham the mood was despair although after last week's diabolical display at Newcastle which cost interim manager Cristian Stellini his job, this time there was pride.

"To get back in the game and give them a goal is difficult to take," a devastated Ryan Mason, Tottenham's second stand-in manager since Antonio Conte was sacked, said.

"We were the better team by an absolute country mile. To gift a team like Liverpool four goals makes it difficult. It's tough to put it into words, absolutely gutted."

A chaotic first half was only three minutes old when Curtis Jones put the hosts in front from Alexander-Arnold's cross and two minutes later Diaz, making his first start since knee surgery, volleyed in Cody Gakpo's cut back.

When Cristian Romero needlessly fouled Gakpo in the 13th minute and Salah blasted a penalty high into the net Tottenham were on course for another horror show.

With some Spurs supporters leaving early and others chanting "we want our money back" the visitors came alive when Kane volleyed past Alisson from an Ivan Perisic cross in the 39th minute before Son curled a left-footed effort on to the post.

Tottenham cursed their bad luck after the break when Son and Romero saw efforts bounce off posts within the space of a couple of minutes but Son then glided on to Romero's pass in the 77th minute to finish with aplomb to set up the barnstorming finale.

Manchester United edge closer to top four finish with win over Villa

Bruno Fernandes

IMAGE: Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after victory over Aston Villa at Old Trafford, Manchester. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters

A goal from Bruno Fernandes secured Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, increasing their chances of finishing in the top four in the Premier League and continuing their dominant form at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag's side are fourth in the standings with 63 points from 32 matches and have a game in hand on fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur who are on 54 points.

United are unbeaten at home in 15 straight Premier League games, with just three draws. They have not lost at Old Trafford since the opening weekend of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion.

United put Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez to work early with several great chances before they were finally rewarded in the 39th minute.

Martinez dived to push away Marcus Rashford's shot after the United striker's well-timed run, and Fernandes sprinted in for a one-touch finish from a tight angle for the 100th league goal of his career. He celebrated in front of the visiting Aston Villa section.

"They probably don't like to play against me... I would prefer them to come and support their players rather than focus on me," Fernandes told MUTV.

Unai Emery's Villa, whose defeat was their first in 11 games, are sixth in the standings, with 54 points from 34 matches. They also failed to score for the first time in their 21 games since Emery took charge.

The victory comes three days after Ten Hag chastised his players for not giving 100% in a 2-2 draw at Spurs.

They responded well on Sunday, with several early chances including Marcel Sabitzer's volley that sailed just over the goal, and Casemiro's curling shot a few minutes later that came back out off the crossbar.

While Villa were better after the break, United still had more chances, including a couple from Rashford alone. In the 59th minute, he split two Villa defenders before Martinez raced off his line to snatch the ball away.

Some excellent defending kept the visitors from drawing level in the dying minutes, including a couple of rapid-fire clearances from Sabitzer, with his foot, and Victor Lindelof, with his head.

"A good three points but I think an impressive performance from Manchester United. We were magnificent on the ball, had good possession and pressed well," Ten Hag told the BBC.

"In the second half you want to go 2-0 ahead but we didn't so it's always going to be a tough finish.

"(Lindelof) played brilliant. He was totally in control in the area around (Villa striker Ollie) Watkins."

Hundreds of fans, burning flares and hoisting a big banner that read "Full sale only", marched to Old Trafford before the game to protest the Glazer family's ownership of the team.

Wilson double puts Newcastle on brink of Champions League

Callum Wilson scores Newcastle United's third goal against Southampton, at St James' Park, Newcastle.

IMAGE: Callum Wilson scores Newcastle United's third goal against Southampton, at St James' Park, Newcastle. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters

Newcastle United look almost certain to be playing in the Champions League next season after Callum Wilson's double saw them come from a goal down to beat bottom club Southampton 3-1 on Sunday.

Victory put Eddie Howe's side on 65 points with five games remaining.

For Southampton the end of their decade-long residence in the top flight appears to be drawing ever closer.

Third-placed Newcastle were rocked shortly before halftime when Stuart Armstrong put the visitors ahead.

But Newcastle, who have not played in the Champions League for two decades, dominated the second half with substitute Wilson making an immediate impact with a tap-in goal.

He then had another disallowed for offside, but Southampton's relief was short-lived as an own goal by Theo Walcott put Eddie Howe's side in front.

Two minutes later Wilson, who had come on at halftime, sealed the points after being played in by Alexander Isak.

"We're getting closer, the games are running out and we're picking up points so all we can do is keep getting the points," Wilson, who has 15 league goals this season, said.

"I think we started slow and sloppy, we had a game a few days ago so it was probably down to tired legs and minds.

"We regrouped at halftime, tactically tweaked a few things and blew them away second half."

Newcastle still have a few hurdles to overcome with Arsenal up next, but they are close to ensuring a top-four finish for the first time since 2003.

"It's a tough league with tough games to come, we'll enjoy the momentum and the supporters helped us a lot, we look forwards to Arsenal," Howe said.

Newcastle had scored 10 goals in their last two games but were off the pace in the first half and Southampton were bright on the counter-attack and took the lead when Armstrong turned in Kamaldeen Sulemana's low ball.

Wilson, back on the bench after starting and scoring twice in the 4-1 victory against Everton, was sent on at halftime and his impact was immense as Newcastle came to life.

He poked in the equaliser in the 54th minute, then forced a great save from Alex McCarthy and had a goal chalked off.

Walcott then poked out a leg to divert a corner into his own net and Wilson finished off the Saints as he coolly rounded McCarthy. Only the woodwork then denied him a hat-trick.

Southampton are running out time to save themselves.

They have 24 points with four games remaining, six points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest who are in the first place above the relegation zone and who they face next in a game they must win to have any realistic chance of survival.

Bournemouth deepen Leeds relegation worries

Jefferson Lerma scores AFC Bournemouth's second goal against Leeds United, at Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth.

IMAGE: Jefferson Lerma scores AFC Bournemouth's second goal against Leeds United, at Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Reuters

A quick-fire Jefferson Lerma double helped Bournemouth beat Leeds United 4-1 at home in the Premier League on Sunday, lifting them further away from relegation danger and leaving the visitors a point clear of the drop zone.

Leeds have 30 points and sit 16th -- a point above 18th-placed Leicester City and two above 19th-placed Everton, who play each other on Monday.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth moved up to 13th in the standings with 39 points to give the south-coast club a huge boost after they found themselves at the bottom of the table and staring at relegation at the start of March.

Leeds were awarded a penalty for a handball in the fourth minute before VAR intervened as replays showed the contact occurred just outside the area.

Lerma then scored twice in four minutes to give Bournemouth a 2-0 lead inside 30 minutes.

The midfielder first pounced on a loose ball to curl a shot past the keeper and then doubled his tally when the ball fell to him at a corner when Leeds keeper Illan Meslier failed to gather a cross, smashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Patrick Bamford reduced the deficit for Leeds eight minutes later when the unmarked English striker got on the end of a Wilfried Gnonto cross to head home past Neto in Bournemouth's goal.

But Bournemouth restored their two-goal cushion in the second half when Dango Outtara got on the end of a long ball from Neto and delivered a low cross into the box where Solanke stole in to score with some help from the far post.

With Leeds down and out, Bournemouth capitalised on their loss of focus to twist the knife, when Jaidon Anthony found Antoine Semenyo in space and the midfielder beat Meslier to make it 4-1.

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