Man City Smash Palace To Fire Title Warning, Villa Extend Winning Run

Manchester City thumped Crystal Palace 3-0 on Sunday to climb back to within two points of Premier League leaders Arsenal as Aston Villa twice came from behind to beat West Ham.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest demolished Tottenham 3-0, while Sunderland saw off local rivals Newcastle 1-0 thanks to a Nick Woltemade own goal.

Arsenal, who have set the pace in this season’s Premier League, squeaked home on Saturday with a 2-1 win against bottom-club Wolves, thanks to two own goals.

That put the pressure back on City, who have been showing ominous signs that they are finding their feet in recent weeks.

Pep Guardiola’s men braced for a tough task at Selhurst Park against high-flying Crystal Palace, and Oliver Glasner’s side was the more dangerous team in the first half.

But Palace failed to take their chances, with Yeremy Pino hitting the crossbar with only goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to beat.

Erling Haaland had largely been on the periphery of the game but scored his 101st Premier League goal when he headed a pinpoint Matheus Nunes cross across Dean Henderson and into the net shortly before the break.

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Palace again started the second half brightly but could not break through and paid the price when Phil Foden swept home from a distance after receiving the ball from Rayan Cherki.

It was the sixth goal in four Premier League games for the forward, being watched at Selhurst Park by England manager Thomas Tuchel.

City made certain of the three points when Haaland thundered a penalty past Henderson after Savinho was taken down by the goalkeeper following a surging run down the middle late in the game.

Villa started their match at the London Stadium as the form team in the league, with nine wins in 10 league matches.

But they fell behind after just 29 seconds when Mateus Fernandes robbed Ezri Konsa and rifled home.

Unai Emery’s men were level just minutes later when John McGinn’s cross was headed into his own net by Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Jarrod Bowen put the Hammers back in front midway through the second half, but Villa again drew level early in the second period through Morgan Rogers.

Rogers fired Villa into the lead for the first time in the 79th minute, smashing home a dipping drive from outside the box to seal a 3-2 win.

The victory leaves Emery’s men just one point behind City and five clear of fourth-placed Chelsea.

Tottenham travelled to Nottingham in desperate need of a win after just one victory in their past six league matches.

But Callum Hudson-Odoi scored twice, and Ibrahim Sangare lashed home a superb third to increase the pressure on manager Thomas Frank, struggling in his first season at the club.

Sunderland were facing Newcastle in the Premier League for the first time in nearly a decade after spending years out of the top division.

Their goal came from an unlikely source when Newcastle forward Woltemade headed Nordi Mukiele’s cross past his own goalkeeper in the opening moments of the second half.

The win lifted Sunderland to seventh in the table.

Brentford host Leeds in the late kick-off.

AFP