Premier League

Manchester City maintained their slim advantage at the top of the Premier League with a routine 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday as Liverpool eased past Watford 2-0 to keep their title ambitions very much alive.

Brentford pulled off a stunning 4-1 victory at Chelsea with Christian Eriksen among the scorers and Manchester United were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Leicester City at Old Trafford.

Kevin De Bruyne put Manchester City ahead after five minutes when he found the top corner from a Raheem Sterling pass and Ilkay Gundogan added another before halftime to keep City one point clear of Liverpool ahead of their seismic clash next Sunday.

We came here to win the game and we did it. You never know what’s going to happen after an international break,” said City boss Pep Guardiola. “It was made more complicated by the fact we couldn’t score the third goal.”

Earlier, Diogo Jota put Liverpool ahead against Watford after 22 minutes in manager Juergen Klopp’s 250th game in charge before a late Fabinho penalty secured the points.

A Vitaly Janelt double and strikes from Eriksen and Yoane Wissa helped Brentford to a famous win over local rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger broke the deadlock three minutes into the second half with a stunning long-range effort but Brentford responded almost instantly through Janelt, who rifled home from the edge of the box.

Eriksen, whose career was in doubt after suffering a near-fatal cardiac arrest during the European Championship last year, gave Brentford the lead in the 54th minute before Janelt grabbed a second and Wissa completed the rout. 

Nobody saw it coming, especially after going 1-0 ahead. It was very untypical of us,” said Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, whose side remained third on 59 points, 14 behind leaders City.

“We stopped defending. We were not aware of enough of the danger, were sloppy with the defending and got punished… they were lucky and clinical enough to get three goals.”

UNITED STRUGGLES

Manchester United’s struggles under interim manager Ralf Rangnick continued as they were outplayed by Leicester in front of their own fans.

Kelechi Iheanacho put the visitors in front in the 63rd minute after nodding home a James Maddison cross but United responded three minutes later when Fred scored from a rebound following Bruno Fernandes’ initial effort.

“We all know we need points. Today it was not enough. We created some chances but the last option was not the best. We have to look forward and win our own games,” Fernandes said.

The draw left United in sixth place, three points behind fourth-placed Arsenal who have two games in hand. Leicester are ninth with 37 points.

Wolverhampton Wanderers kept their European hopes alive after goals from Jonny and Ashley Young clinched a 2-1 win over Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. Wolves climbed to seventh, while Villa are 10th following a third straight loss. 

James Ward-Prowse scored an excellent free kick as Southampton grabbed a point in a 1-1 draw at Leeds United and Brighton & Hove Albion were held to a goalless home draw by bottom club Norwich City to end a six-game losing streak for both teams

West Ham moved up to sixth in the Premier League with a win over 10-man Everton, a result that keeps the Toffees in relegation trouble.

Aaron Cresswell scored a wonderful free-kick to open the scoring for the hosts when he curled the ball past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford at London Stadium.

But Everton, without an away league win since 28 August, started the second half brightly as Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck the angle of post and crossbar before Mason Holgate’s half-volley deflected in off Pablo Fornals to make it it 1-1.

However, they were only level for five minutes. Michail Antonio burst clear of the Everton defence and his shot was blocked by Pickford but the rebound fell to Jarrod Bowen, back in the side after recovering from a fractured foot, and he steered the ball into the unguarded net.

Things then got worse for the visitors when captain Michael Keane was sent off midway through the half for his second bookable offence, following his second late challenge on Antonio. There was no way back for the visitors after that.

Everton are 17th in the Premier League, three points clear of 18th-placed Watford. On Wednesday they face a vital game at Burnley, who are 19th.

Tottenham came from behind to comfortably beat Newcastle and moved up to fourth in the Premier League.

Antonio Conte’s side leap above north London rivals Arsenal on goal difference, but Mikel Arteta’s men have two games in hand including Monday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

It didn’t start well for the hosts as Magpies defender Fabian Schar curled in a free-kick on 39 minutes, though Hugo Lloris will be disappointed at not keeping the ball out.

Spurs responded on the stroke of half-time through Ben Davies’ glancing header from Son Heung-min’s sumptuous delivery into the danger area.

Immediately after the break, Spurs turned it around through Matt Doherty’s diving header from Harry Kane’s cross and they netted their third through Son’s clinical finish.

And it got even better on the hour mark when Emerson Royal poked in from close range following excellent build-up play by Doherty – and substitute Steven Bergwijn stroked in late on.

Newcastle had no answer and fell to their third consecutive defeat, leaving them 15th in the table but nine points above the relegation zone.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta apologised for his side’s performance in their surprise defeat at Crystal Palace and accepted it was not good enough for the north London club.

The visitors had gone into the game looking to move back into the top four and strengthen their hopes of Champions League football.

But they were second-best throughout at Selhurst Park as former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira, now in charge of the Eagles, got one over his former side in some style.

“It is time to accept the criticism, put your hand up and apologise because this performance was not good enough for this club, but then react,” Arteta said.

“From the beginning we were not at the races. When you come here you have to compete, you have to win duels and second balls and be aggressive and we were none of those.”

The Gunners would have moved above rivals Tottenham with victory or even a draw but fell behind early on through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s header following a free-kick.

Things got worse for the visitors a few minutes later when Jordan Ayew got away from two Arsenal defenders and bent a shot beyond Aaron Ramsdale.

Arsenal showed some improvement after the break and should have at least got one back as Martin Odegaard shot wide when unmarked inside the box, while Eddie Nketiah hit the woodwork.

Palace made sure of a hugely impressive win when Wilfried Zaha was brought down inside the box late on and the forward stepped up to convert the penalty.

The victory, Palace’s first at home in the league in 2022, moves them up to ninth while Arsenal remain fifth and outside the top four on goal difference, albeit with a game in hand.

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