Manchester City on Sunday thumped Crystal Palace 3-0 to move back to within two points of English Premier League leaders Arsenal as Aston Villa kept up their surprise title charge.
Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest demolished struggling Tottenham Hotspur 3-0, while Sunderland saw off local rivals Newcastle United 1-0 thanks to a Nick Woltemade own-goal.
Arsenal, who have set the pace this season, squeaked home on Saturday with a 2-1 win against bottom-club Wolverhampton Wanderers, thanks to two own-goals.
Photo: AFP
That put the pressure back on City, who have been showing ominous signs that they are finding their feet in the past few weeks.
Pep Guardiola’s men braced for a tough task at Selhurst Park against high-flying Palace and had to withstand pressure from the home side.
However, they were clinical, with two goals from the ruthless Erling Haaland and one from Phil Foden.
“It is a really tough place to come,” City boss Guardiola told Sky Sports. “When you lose the ball, they attack incredibly well, but we were patient.”
“We were lucky when they hit the post from [Adam] Wharton, but really pleased for the performance and victory to grow our mentality,” Guardiola said.
“Erling is a forward to score the goals, but in the second half he keeps the ball. He was able to contain situations. He helped us be together,” he added. “In the second half he was outstanding.”
Oliver Glasner’s Palace, who beat City in last season’s FA Cup final, squandered their chances in the first half, with Yeremy Pino hitting the bar when he had only goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to beat.
Haaland was a largely peripheral figure, but came alive shortly before halftime, heading a pinpoint Matheus Nunes cross across Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson to give City the lead.
Palace again started the second half brightly, and Wharton cracked a low drive against the base of the post.
However, they paid the price for their wayward finishing when Foden drilled expertly into the bottom corner after a powerful run from Rayan Cherki to double the visitors’ lead.
City added gloss to the scoreline when Haaland thundered a penalty past Henderson after Savinho was taken down by the goalkeeper following a surging run late in the game.
Villa started their match at the London Stadium as the form team in the league, with nine wins in 10 matches.
The visitors fell behind twice, to Mateus Fernandes’ goal after just 29 seconds and a poacher’s strike from Jarrod Bowen.
However, a Konstantinos Mavropanos own-goal canceled out the opener and Morgan Rogers hauled Villa level at 2-2, before the England midfielder capped a sparkling performance with a stunning shot from outside the box.
The victory leaves Unai Emery’s men just three points behind Arsenal, while West Ham United remain stuck in the relegation zone.
Two goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and a screamer from Ibrahim Sangare gave Forest a comfortable victory over troubled Spurs and lifted Sean Dyche’s team five points above the drop zone.
Under-fire Tottenham manager Thomas Frank insisted he would be given time to solve their issues.
“I can’t see why not. I think it’s pretty evident that if no one gets the time, no one can turn this around. This is not a quick fix,” he said.
Newcastle are languishing in 12th place in the table after sinking to a 1-0 defeat at the home of local rivals Sunderland, courtesy of Woltemade’s blunder in the opening minutes of the second half.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
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