A ninth-minute goal from Brazilian Gabriel Jesus gave Manchester City a 1-0 win over bottom club Sheffield United on Saturday.
Jesus slotted home from close range after Ferran Torres took advantage of poor defending from United to wriggle free of two players and pick out his unmarked team mate.
Sheffield United had arrived at the Etihad on the back off their shock 2-1 win at Old Trafford against Manchester United and delivered another solid and organised display.
City had over 75% possession but struggled to create many real openings although Sheffield keeper Aaron Ramsdale did well in the 72nd minute to keep out a fine drive from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Aymeric Laporte’s effort a minute later.
The Yorkshire side, still rooted to the foot of the table on eight points, went close to an equaliser with a late John Fleck drive that flashed past the post.
Ramsdale did well again to keep out a Jesus effort in stoppage time as City had to settle for a single goal victory – Guardiola’s 500th victory as a manager.
Ivan Cavaleiro came off the substitutes bench to grab a late equaliser as Fulham held fellow Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion to a 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Fulham broke the deadlock with their first attacking opportunity in the 10th minute when Aleksandar Mitrovic slipped in a through ball to Bobby Cordova-Reid, who slotted it past West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
After struggling to create chances in the opening half, hosts West Brom equalised two minutes into the second period when Brazilian playmaker Matheus Pereira’s cross was stabbed home by defender Kyle Bartley.
Pereira appeared to have earned a first home league win for West Brom under manager Sam Allardyce when he smashed the ball past Fulham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola into the far corner.
But Fulham salvaged a point after Harrison Reed’s cross found fellow substitute Cavaleiro, who headed the ball home with 13 minutes remaining.
Ivan Cavaleiro came off the substitutes bench to grab a late equaliser as Fulham held fellow Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion to a 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Fulham broke the deadlock with their first attacking opportunity in the 10th minute when Aleksandar Mitrovic slipped in a through ball to Bobby Cordova-Reid, who slotted it past West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
After struggling to create chances in the opening half, hosts West Brom equalised two minutes into the second period when Brazilian playmaker Matheus Pereira’s cross was stabbed home by defender Kyle Bartley.
Pereira appeared to have earned a first home league win for West Brom under manager Sam Allardyce when he smashed the ball past Fulham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola into the far corner.
But Fulham salvaged a point after Harrison Reed’s cross found fellow substitute Cavaleiro, who headed the ball home with 13 minutes remaining.
In the second half, Arsenal, who brought on Martin Odegaard for his debut late on, came out the stronger of the two sides as Alexandre Lacazette’s free-kick hit the crossbar before David de Gea made an excellent block to keep out Emile Smith Rowe’s strike. Nicolas Pepe sent a curling effort inches wide late on before Edinson Cavani steered arguably the best chance of the game wide in the dying stages.
The point sees Arsenal, who stretch their unbeaten league run to seven games, move up to eighth, while United, who have scored just once in five games against their big-six rivals this season, stay second, but are three points behind leaders Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Callum Wilson’s second-half goals gave Newcastle a vital first win in nine Premier League games to ease the pressure on Steve Bruce as they beat a flat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park.
Wilson, who had missed Newcastle’s two best chances either side of half-time, scored his 50th Premier League goal with a fabulous, inch-perfect header from Jonjo Shelvey’s corner (73), a deserved opener for Bruce’s side.
Wilson got his and Newcastle’s second in stoppage time, finishing low past Jordan Pickford when one-on-one as Everton were caught high up the pitch looking for a leveller (90+3).
There have been strong calls for Bruce’s sacking among Newcastle fans of late, but this was a rare positive performance and lifts Newcastle eight points clear of the drop zone, albeit having played one more game than 18th-placed Fulham.
Ross Barkley’s first-half header was enough for Aston Villa to win 1-0 at Southampton, who were punished twice by VAR with the smallest of margins.
It was a dramatic start to the St Mary’s encounter when Southampton had a huge penalty shout turned down. Stuart Armstrong’s shot hit Matty Cash on the arm, but VAR official Mike Dean judged the ball to have hit the Aston Villa defender on the thigh first with the slightest of touches.
Southampton played well in the first half but failed to have a shot on target and were penalised for their blunt attack when Ross Barkley (41) nodded home from a Jack Grealish cross just before half-time.
Patrick Bamford scored one and created two goals as Leeds United ended Leicester City’s seven-match unbeaten run and denied Brendan Rodgers’ side a move up to second in the Premier League with an entertaining 3-1 victory on Sunday.
Leeds remain in 12th, behind Southampton on goal difference, while Leicester are third with 39 points — two points behind second-placed Manchester United who were held to a goalless draw at Arsenal on Saturday.
“It was a hard game,” an exhausted Bamford told Sky Sports. “They’re a top team, their position in the table shows that. We had to concentrate the whole game and really fight for it.
The two sides had the ball in the net again by the half hour mark, courtesy of Ayoze Perez and Mateusz Klich, but they were both ruled out for offside.
Leeds took the lead with 20 minutes to go when Raphinha’s first-time through ball gave Bamford space to shoot and the English striker’s left-footed strike found the top corner for his 11th goal of the season.
With Leicester forced to pour men forward in search of an equaliser, Leeds scored a third from a counter-attack as Bamford sprinted into space before unselfishly squaring the ball for Jack Harrison to fire into an empty net.
The home side opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Harvey Barnes charged through the midfield and exchanged passes with James Maddison before finding the bottom corner.It’s a tough one to take, we know how Leeds play and it can end up as a basketball game,” Barnes said.
“We played some good football and we created good chances. The goals we are very disappointed with.”
Brighton boss Graham Potter said the Seagulls produced their best performance for two years as they beat Tottenham to go seven points clear of the Premier League bottom three.
Leandro Trossard grabbed the game’s only goal, side-footing in Pascal Gross’ cutback after 17 minutes.
And the hosts comfortably held on at the Amex Stadium to earn their first home league win since June.
Captain Azpilicueta – the longest-serving player in the team – drilled Callum Hudson-Odoi’s lay-off high past Nick Pope just before half-time in the Premier League encounter at Stamford Bridge.
Azpilicueta’s fellow Spanish defender Alonso added a classy second late on, skilfully controlling a Christian Pulisic cross before lashing a volley over Pope at his near post.
The impressive Hudson-Odoi was unlucky not to score in between with a shot that was deflected on to a post by Burnley defender Erik Pieters.
A trademark quick shift and curling finish from the Egypt striker was reward for a bright start to the second half from the Reds after Jurgen Klopp’s side had failed to add a cutting edge to their first-half possession.
Salah capped a scintillating Liverpool counter-attack to double his side’s lead 11 minutes later, instantly controlling Xherdan Shaqiri’s looping pass over the top before prodding past Lukasz Fabianski.
Without the injured Sadio Mane and with Roberto Firmino among the substitutes, the onus was on Salah to end his mini drought and he delivered in style.
Firmino came off the bench to set up Georginio Wijnaldum for a slick Liverpool third before Craig Dawson steered home a corner to hand West Ham a consolation.
Liverpool’s second win in London in four days cut the gap to leaders Manchester City – who have a game in hand – to four points, and the two sides meet at Anfield on Sunday.
