MANCHESTER, England (AP) – Manchester City and Aston Villa continued to put pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with wins on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest pulled further away from the relegation zone with a 3-0 win over Tottenham, while Sunderland beat Newcastle 1-0 in the Tyne Wear derby thanks to a Nick Waltemaide own goal.
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table to five points with a 2-1 win over Wolves on Saturday. But the next day, both of their closest rivals responded with victories. Second-placed City won 3-0 at Crystal Palace, while third-placed Villa came from behind twice to beat West Ham 3-2 at the London Stadium.
City are two points behind Arsenal, with Villa a further point behind.
revenge on the city
City, who lost to Palace in last season’s FA Cup final, exacted revenge by taking all three points at Selhurst Park.
Erling Haaland scored his 101st Premier League goal to put City ahead late in the first half, before scoring his second of the game with an 89th-minute penalty. The Norwegian had another remarkable scoring season, scoring 36 goals in 27 appearances for club and country. He is the league’s top scorer with 17 goals.
Phil Foden scored City’s extra goal between Haaland’s double.
Rodgers leads Villa fightback
Morgan Rodgers scored twice in the second half to extend Aston Villa’s points lead to nine consecutive wins and keep Unai Emery’s side trailing Arsenal and City.
Villa have only lost one of their last 13 league games and have won 10 of their last 11, although they suffered two come-from-behind defeats at relegation-battling West Ham.
Matheus Fernandes scored the fastest goal in the English top flight this season, giving the home side a 1-0 lead after just 29 seconds. However, an own goal from Konstantinos Mavropanos leveled the score eight minutes later.
Jarrod Bowen then scored his second goal, his 24th in the game, to give West Ham the lead at half-time.
Rodgers tied the game again five minutes after the break and hit the winning run in the 79th inning.
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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