Manchester City maintained their unbeaten run with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table as Manchester United fought back to salvage a 2-2 draw at Southampton on Saturday.

City top the standings by five points from Liverpool who face Everton in the Merseyside derby on Sunday after Tottenham Hotspur, who are third, face north London rivals Arsenal.

Crystal Palace beat Burnley 2-0 to end a run of eight matches without a win and there were victories for Leicester City, West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion.

City were without Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez at the Etihad but normal service resumed as they took the lead against Bournemouth after 16 minutes through Bernardo Silva.

The visitors went into halftime level, however, thanks to a header from in-form England striker Callum Wilson.

Bournemouth’s hopes of a stunning upset were dashed as the champions struck again with goals by Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Guendogan.

“Bournemouth are a good side, so strong up front, so we could not press,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “They played long balls, attacked the channels. They were taller than us and stronger than us.

“In the last 20 minutes we were flat and that is why I am delighted to win in that way.”

Guardiola’s side are 16 points ahead of neighbours United whose poor season continued with a draw against struggling Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium.

Southampton’s Stuart Armstrong fired an unstoppable shot past David de Gea after 13 minutes and the Spanish goalkeeper was beaten again by a curling Cedric Soares free kick into the top corner.

Southampton let a two-goal lead slip against Fulham last week and United quickly hit back through Romelu Lukaku who was set up by Marcus Rashford.

The goal was the Belgian striker’s first for his club since the middle of September, a drought lasting 981 minutes.

Ander Herrera equalised before halftime to bring United fully back into the contest but the match petered out into a draw, a result that will not please either manager much.

“We did so well in the last 10, 15 minutes of the first half… good spirit, good fight, good comeback from 0-2 to 2-2 and great examples of players fighting to the limits,” Mourinho told BT Sport.

“Positive examples include Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones and many others showing that respect for the shirt and showing respect for the club. Not the result we wanted but a performance that had positive things.”

Huddersfield Town looked set to continue their recent upturn in form by scoring after 58 seconds at home to Brighton, Mathias Jorgensen heading in the fastest goal of the Premier League season.

However, the hosts were reduced to 10 men after half an hour when Steve Mounie was sent off for a high challenge and Brighton took full advantage with goals by Shane Duffy and Florin.

PALACE JOY

Palace leapt above Huddersfield in the standings by beating Burnley at Selhurst Park to lift the pressure on manager Roy Hodgson.

Strikes in each half from James McArthur and Andros Townsend were Palace’s first goals from open play at home all season. Burnley remained in the relegation zone having slipped down to 18th after Cardiff City’s 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday.

Leicester recorded their first home win in the league since September with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Watford.

Jamie Vardy opened the scoring with a penalty after 12 minutes before James Maddison netted a brilliant volley to move Leicester up to eighth.

West Ham striker Javier Hernandez scored twice and Felipe Anderson grabbed another as the London side won 3-0 win at Newcastle United, halting the recent momentum of Rafa Benitez’s side.

Arsenal leapfrogged rivals Tottenham Hotspur with a thrilling 4-2 victory and Liverpool’s forgotten man Divock Origi scored a freak 96th minute winner to earn a 1-0 win over Everton on a dramatic ‘derby day’ in the Premier League on Sunday.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shot ahead as the league’s top scorer with his double for Arsenal in an epic north London contest while at Anfield, Origi’s stoppage-time winner kept Liverpool just two points behind leaders Manchester City.

Chelsea, 2-0 winners over Fulham in the day’s other London derby at Stamford Bridge, put the Blues third in the table on 31 points after 14 games, five behind second-placed Liverpool and seven adrift of City.

Arsenal have 30 points, ahead of Spurs on goal difference.

If matches were to finish at halftime this season, Arsenal would sit 19th but once again, their final 45 minutes turned a match on its head, as they came from 2-1 down at the break to get the better of Spurs at the Emirates Stadium.

Aubameyang’s penalty gave Arsenal the early lead from the penalty spot, before Spurs rallied with goals from Eric Dier and a Harry Kane penalty giving them the advantage before the break.

However, three goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Aubameyang again — with his 10th in the league this season, two more than any other player — and Lucas Torreira extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to 19 games in all competitions under Unai Emery.

“It is a very big victory we showed our supporters and we gave them the victory because it is a very special match against Tottenham. For us, it is special also,” Emery said.

“We need to continue our process, creating our way. I want to do more.”

Looking for only their second win over their north London rivals in nine league matches, Arsenal, without Mesut Ozil in their squad, started at a blistering pace, and were soon in front.

Jan Vertonghen’s handball in the penalty area gifted Aubameyang the opportunity to score from the spot but Spurs levelled through Dier — a goal which sparked angry scenes on the touchline, as Spurs’ players clashed with Arsenal’s substitutes.

Kane became the joint-top goalscorer in north London league derbies in the Premier League era with eight before Aubameyang levelled the match once more with a strike of real quality.

Substitute Lacazette’s deflected effort put Arsenal in front once more, before Torreira’s first goal for the Gunners almost lifted the roof off the Emirates.

Vertonghen’s late dismissal after a clumsy foul earned him a second yellow card completed Spurs’ miserable afternoon.

EVERTON RUE PICKFORD BLUNDER

Everton, without a win at Anfield in the Merseyside derby since 1999, looked to have done enough to earn a 0-0 stalemate, but Jordan Pickford’s error allowed Origi in to score his first Liverpool goal since May 2017 to snatch all three points.

In two minds when a mistimed Virgil van Dijk hoof from distance looped towards him, the England international only succeeded in patting the ball down onto his own bar before seeing it fall kindly for Origi to nod home.

“The goal was lucky, of course, but our idea was clear: we wanted to win until the last second,” said Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, who rushed on to the pitch to celebrate the winner, only to apologise for his actions later.

“We wanted to show that by bringing strikers on. It was a long and open game. I think we deserved the three points.”

Earlier, Chelsea looked nervous, having suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season the previous weekend against Spurs, and after Pedro put Chelsea in front in just the fourth minute, they struggled to put the game to bed.

It took until the 82nd minute, and a fine finish from substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek, for Chelsea to kill of any hope of a visitors’ fightback on Claudio Ranieri’s return to Stamford Bridge as Fulham manager.

 

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