Premier League roundup: Man City take top spot, United edge past Aston Villa
Bournemouth 4 Leeds 1
Bournemouth took a massive step towards confirming their Premier League safety with a 4-1 win over Leeds, inflicting a damaging fourth defeat against promoted sides for the Yorkshire side this season.
A meeting between the league’s leakiest defences offered the promise of goals, and fans at the Vitality Stadium saw plenty of them.
Leeds had often been on the front foot in a hotly-contested opening, with Adam Smith instinctively blocking Jack Harrison’s attempt after great work from Crysencio Summerville, but it was the hosts who took the lead in the 20th minute.
When Dominic Solanke got behind to tee up Philip Billing for a shot that was blocked by Liam Cooper, Jefferson Lerma took full advantage of the time afforded to him by cooly stroking the ball into the top corner.
Just four minutes later, Illan Meslier made a complete mess of dealing with Ryan Christie’s corner delivery and Lerma was on hand to finish again as he rifled the ball into the gaping net.
It was the fifth goal of the Colombian’s campaign, making it the best goalscoring season of his career to date.
However, he was punished for sloppily conceding possession shortly after the half-hour mark, as Wilfried Gnonto provided a sumptuous cross for Patrick Bamford, who headed home to renew hope for Leeds despite captain Cooper being forced off injured in the aftermath.
Both teams continued to carry a threat after the restart, and Billing and Gnonto both wasted promising opportunities moments apart following impressive build-up play to set them up.
Solanke made no such mistake and continued his promising goalscoring form, capitalising on Robin Koch’s inability to convincingly deal with Dango Ouattara’s pass by sliding the ball past Meslier for the striker’s third goal in seven games.
Antoine Semenyo rounded off the scoring with a late strike that squirmed through Meslier’s clutches as Bournemouth secured a fourth win in their last five matches, giving Gary O’Neil’s side a 10-point buffer from the relegation zone and plenty of breathing space.
Leeds have no such luxury and are now a solitary point above the league’s bottom three; Javia Gracia is in desperate need of a win after a fifth match without one.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominic Solanke (AFC Bournemouth)
Fulham 1 Manchester City 2
Manchester City hit the Premier League summit thanks to a 2-1 victory over Fulham, their eighth PL victory on the trot as they bid to become only the second different club in history to win three successive PL titles.
They made the perfect start to the match, with Tim Ream committing a clumsy foul on Julian Alvarez inside the area with less than three minutes gone and Erling Haaland making no mistake from the spot to give his side the lead.
By doing so, the Norwegian became the first man in 92 years to net a half-century of competitive goals inside a single English top-flight season.
City’s joy proved to be short-lived though as Fulham quickly hit back with Harry Wilson’s cushioned knock-down being thundered home by Carlos Vinicius to stun the title favourites and drop them back down into second place.
But the Citizens are near-unstoppable right now, and if Vinicius’ goal was eye-catching, then Alvarez’s goal to fire City back in front was even better.
From all of 30 yards, the World Cup winner let fly and saw his effort dip over the top of Leno, in what will certainly go down as a goal-of-the-season contender.
Haaland came close to sealing victory at Craven Cottage but his goalbound effort was repelled by Leno as City pressure continued to grow. In truth, Fulham’s German stopper was the only reason the visitors' margin of victory remained so slender, with him also denying Alvarez.
Defeat wasn’t catastrophic for Fulham, who will be fully aware that securing a second successive PL season is a small win in itself. The day belonged to City though, who are now firmly in the driving seat for perhaps the first time this season in the title race.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
Manchester United 1 Aston Villa 0
Manchester United consolidated their place in the Premier League top-four as a narrow 1-0 victory over European-chasing Aston Villa extended the Red Devils’ unbeaten home streak in the league to 15 matches - the longest of any side in the division.
Having squandered a two-goal lead to draw with Tottenham on Thursday, the hosts knew a positive response was needed against their in-form opponents. Roared on by the fervent home support, United looked to stamp their authority on proceedings during the early exchanges, with Marcus Rashford and Casemiro both going close to breaking the deadlock inside the opening half-hour.
Grateful to still be level, Villa - unbeaten in their last 10 league matches - searched for a foothold in the contest before the break, but it was United who finally made their pressure count with the breakthrough six minutes before the interval.
Rashford, a constant threat to the visitors’ rearguard, saw a low effort parried away by Emiliano Martinez and the loose ball fell to Bruno Fernandes who lifted a clever finish into the net for his 100th career league goal.
United looked to press home their advantage in the early stages of the second half, but despite enjoying plenty of possession, a lack of cutting edge in the final third continued to frustrate the home faithful, as Rashford saw another effort thwarted by Martinez.
This gave the visitors encouragement heading into the final 20 minutes, and Unai Emery introduced Bertrand Traore in the hope of injecting some late impetus into Villa’s attack.
Intent on finding a late equaliser, Villa came agonisingly close to levelling the scores when Douglas Luiz’s strike was cleared off the line by Sabitzer, but the United rearguard held firm under pressure to secure a hard-earned three points.
The result sees the hosts consolidate their place in the top-four with a nine-point cushion over Tottenham and Villa, while the West Midlands side suffer a first defeat in 11 PL matches to dent their European hopes.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcel Sabitzer (Manchester United)
Newcastle 3 Southampton 1
Southampton’s hopes of Premier League survival took yet another hit as Newcastle United came from behind to seal all three points in their hunt for Champions League qualification.
The visitors showed their attacking intent from the outset at St. James' Park, twice testing the reflexes of Nick Pope during a high-octane start to proceedings.
Reluctant to simply soak up the pressure, Newcastle clapped back with a period of sustained pressure. Anthony Gordon’s energy down the left flank was causing Lyanco all sorts of problems, and the wide man was agonisingly denied by the post when he slid a low effort past the onrushing Alex McCarthy.
The hosts remained in the ascendancy for the majority of the half, but crucially, Southampton made the all-important breakthrough as half-time approached. An incisive breakaway cut through the Magpies' defence and was rounded off by Stuart Armstrong’s first-time finish, injecting the Premier League’s bottom club with renewed hope.
Spoilt for choice in terms of in-form goalscorers, Eddie Howe brought on Callum Wilson at the start of the second half, and the Newcastle number nine duly repaid his manager’s faith 10 minutes later.
The south coast side had withstood waves of attacks in the first half, but their defence finally buckled when Alexander Isak picked out Wilson, who blasted a shot beyond the helpless McCarthy from close range.
The Magpies were relentless in their pursuit of a second goal, continually knocking at the Southampton door, and they somewhat inevitably took the lead to shatter the south coast side's hopes of heading home with at least a point.
Soon after VAR had denied Wilson a goal for an offside in the build-up, Sven Botman sent a header into the unfortunate Theo Walcott to finally put the Magpies in front. Still with their foot on the gas, Newcastle then put the game to bed when Wilson kept his composure to round McCarthy and tuck in a third goal nine minutes from time.
The result leaves the Saints without a win in nine, languishing at the foot of the table six points from safety. As for Newcastle, a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2002/03 looks all but guaranteed thanks to their commanding lead over the chasing pack.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Callum Wilson (Newcastle United)
