Norwegian international striker Erling Haaland led his Manchester City team to return from London with a valuable victory over Crystal Palace 3-0, from which he scored a brace on Sunday in the sixteenth round of the English Football League.
Haaland opened the scoring (41st) and Phil Foden added the second goal (69th), before the Norwegian scored his brace in the 89th minute from a penalty kick.
Spanish coach Pep Guardiola’s team raised its score to 34 points, restoring the difference to two points with leaders Arsenal and the winner over Wolverhampton on Saturday with difficulty 2-1, with 36 points.
The home team had a clear advantage in the first half, but Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma excelled in stopping more than one attempt, before the crossbar took his place to block a shot from Spaniard Jeremi Pino from inside the penalty area (17).
Haaland snatched the first goal with a header from inside the area to the left of host goalkeeper Dean Henderson, taking advantage of a perfect cross from the right side by Portuguese Matheus Nunish (41).
The right post responded to Adam Wharton’s shot with his left foot from outside the penalty area, preventing Austrian coach Oliver Glasner’s team from achieving an equalizer (49).
Donnarumma continued his saves in the second half, which witnessed a clear improvement on the offensive level for City, resulting in a second goal that was signed by Foden with a creeping shot with his left hand from outside the area to the left of Henderson (69).
The goal is Foden’s sixth in the last four league matches and the tenth in all competitions this season.
As the match approached its end, Henderson blocked the lone Brazilian substitute Savinho, so referee Darren England awarded a penalty kick, which Haaland successfully translated, scoring his second goal in the match and 17th in the league this season, thus strengthening his lead in the scorers’ rankings, six goals ahead of his closest competitor, Brazilian Brentford striker Igor Thiago, with 11 goals.
Guardiola said after City achieved its fifth successive victory in all competitions, in a statement to Sky Sports: “It is a very difficult stadium. When you lose the ball to them, they attack very well, but we were patient.”
He added, “We were lucky when Wharton (Adam) shot a ball that bounced off the post, but we are really happy with the performance and the victory to strengthen our mentality.”
He continued, “Erling is a striker capable of scoring goals, but in the second half he was keeping the ball. He was able to contain some situations (…). His performance in the second half was great.”
For its part, Aston Villa continued its series of consecutive victories in the league and raised it to six after turning the tables on its host West Ham 3-2.
Portuguese Matheus Fernandes gave the London team the lead in the first minute, but Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos accidentally scored against his team the equalizer for the visitors (9).
International striker Jarrod Bowen restored West Ham to the lead again (24), but his England teammate Morgan Rodgers turned the tables for the visitors by scoring a brace in the 50th and 79th minutes.
Sunderland wins the derby
Aston Villa raised its score to 33 points in third place, one point behind runner-up City and three behind leaders Arsenal.
In turn, Sunderland continued its strong performances and positive results, defeating its guest and neighbor Newcastle 1-0 in their first confrontation in the league at the “Stadium of Light” in ten years.
German striker Nick Wohltmadhe scored the only goal of the match by mistake, against his team, in the 46th minute.
Sunderland, which has not lost at home so far in the league this season in eight matches, like Arsenal, raised its score to 26 points in seventh place, while Newcastle’s score stagnated after suffering its sixth defeat in the league at 22 points in twelfth place.
For its part, Tottenham was also led to its sixth loss by suddenly falling to host Nottingham Forest 0-3.
The three goals were scored by Callum Hudson-Odoi (28th and 50th) and Ivory Coast’s Ibrahim Sangaré (79th).
Nottingham raised its score to 18 points in sixteenth place, while Tottenham’s score froze at 22 points in eleventh place.
In the last match on Sunday, Brentford, 14th with 20 points, tied with its guest, Leeds United, 17th with 16 points, 1-1.
Veteran Jordan Henderson opened the scoring for the hosts (70), and striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin responded with the equalizer (82).
The stage concludes on Monday with a confrontation between Manchester United and Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
AFP
