Manchester, May 7 (BNA): Manchester City continued their seemingly unstoppable run to clinch the English Premier League title for the third time in a row with a 2-1 victory over Leeds United on Saturday to put them four points clear of Arsenal.
Ilkay Gundogan scored a brace for Man City, but missed a late penalty kick that angered coach Pep Guardiola after Spaniard Erling Haaland called for his shot to score Leeds after one minute.
Reuters reports that Liverpool’s poor hopes of making the top four continued when they beat Brentford 1-0 at Anfield courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s first-half goal.
Harry Kane scored a goal to lift Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, his first victory in five matches, while Chelsea achieved their first victory under the leadership of interim coach Frank Lampard with a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.
And it seemed that Man City was on the alert after Gundogan put a double goal in the penalty area seat at the Etihad Stadium, but the penalty kick that the German missed in the 84th minute made a tense end, as Rodrigo Moreno scored Leeds goal moments later.
While Gundogan was scoring a hat-trick, Guardiola was adamant that there should be no room for emotion and Haaland was the designated candidate.
“The performance was excellent. We played really well,” Guardiola said. “Who knows if Erling takes the penalty and misses it? What happens if Gondu takes the penalty and scores goals? So the question is 2-0, who takes the penalty? The favorite is Erling.
City’s victory, coupled with Arsenal’s Sunday defeat by Newcastle United, would be close to claiming the Premier League title for a treble that extended their league winning streak to 10 matches.
Liverpool recorded a sixth successive Premier League win to maintain their bid for fourth place.
Salah scored the only goal of the match in the 13th minute, starting the move before flicking a Fabinho cross from Virgil van Dijk at the back post, and the Dutch great headed the ball to the Egyptian for his 100th goal at Anfield.
The victory left the Merseysiders in fifth place on 62 points, one point behind fourth-placed United, but the Red Devils have two games in hand.
Kane headed Tottenham ahead in first-half stoppage time to move them up to second on the all-time Premier League scorers list.
The victory took Tottenham to sixth place in the standings, with 57 points from 35 games, six points behind fourth-placed United, who played two fewer games. Palace 12.
Chelsea snapped a run of nine matches without a win in all competitions.
Late goals from Chelsea’s Benoit Badiachel and Joao Felix, followed by Conor Gallagher’s opener by Bournemouth’s Matthias Vena, helped the London club climb to 11th with 42 points.
Bournemouth dropped to 14th, three points behind Chelsea, after playing a game more.
“It feels great, we just wanted to put on a show today,” Lampard said. “We haven’t been good enough lately, so this was an important game for us.”
Wolverhampton Wanderers scored an early goal from defender Totti and then maintained a strong 1-0 victory over Aston Villa to preserve its place in the English Premier League next season.
It was a welcome win for Julen Lopetegui’s side after their 6-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
“A massive result for us,” said Ruben Neves, whose corner kick led to the goal. “After the Brighton game, that’s all we talked about.”
Wolverhampton jumped 10 points ahead of the relegation zone with 40 points, while Villa remained in eighth place after its second consecutive defeat.
Rial