Premier League: Man city go top, Liverpool edge Spurs in thriller

LONDON: Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League after a hard-fought 2-1 win away at Fulham.

City’s eighth consecutive league win followed their 4-1 home victory over Arsenal on Wednesday and lifted them one point ahead of Arsenal, who will face Chelsea at home on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s side took an early lead when Erling Haaland smashed home his 50th goal of the season from the penalty spot after Tim Ream fouled Julian Alvarez. Fulham showed considerable resilience and equalized thanks to Carlos Vinicius in the 15th minute.

Alvarez scored what turned out to be the winning goal with a stunning shot outside the box, a Xinhua report said.

Newcastle United remained third, with a nine-point cushion over fifth, after coming back from 1-0 down at home to bottom-of-the-table Southampton.

Stuart Armstrong stunned St James’ Park in the 41st minute of the game, but Callum Wilson leveled in the 54th minute as Newcastle took the initiative. It wasn’t until the 79th minute that Theo Walcott sliced a clearance into his own net to put them ahead.

Wilson secured the points with his second of the game two minutes later and was only denied a hat-trick by the woodwork in the closing moments.

Manchester United strengthened their grip on fourth thanks to a 39th-minute goal from Bruno Fernandes, which dented Aston Villa’s European hopes.

Liverpool took advantage of Villa’s defeat to move up to fifth after a crazy 4-3 win at home against Tottenham, who came back from 3-0 down to lose the match in the fourth minute of injury time. It seemed to be game over after just 15 minutes as Curtis Jones, a fit-again Luis Diaz, and Mohamed Salah’s penalty put Liverpool 3-0 up.

Spurs must have feared a repeat of last weekend’s debacle in Newcastle, but Harry Kane pulled a goal back before the break, and Son Heung-Min saw a much-improved second-half display rewarded in the 77th minute.

Richarlison’s header then bounced over Alisson to equalize in the 93rd minute, but just when it appeared Tottenham had saved a point, a minute later, Lucas Moura headed straight to Diogo Jota, who rounded Hugo Lloris to score the winner for Liverpool. (IANS)

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