Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as Manchester City restored their
12-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win at home to
Newcastle United yesterday. City’s 30-match unbeaten run in the league
came to a dramatic end with a 4-3 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield last
week and their advantage at the top of the table was cut to single
figures, for a few hours at least, when second-placed Manchester United
beat Burnley 1-0 earlier on Saturday.
But normal service for Pep Guardiola’s men resumed in yesterday’s late
kick-off, with Aguero glancing in Kevin De Bruyne’s cross in the 34th
minute to open the scoring at the Etihad. The Argentina striker then
converted a 63rd-minute penalty awarded after Raheem Sterling tumbled in
the box following a tug by Javier Manquillo.
But struggling Newcastle scored against the run of play four minutes
later when a mistake by Oleksandr Zinchenko allowed Jacob Murphy to
sprint through and finish in composed fashion. Aguero, however, put the
result beyond doubt when City’s all-time leading goalscorer completed
his 11th hat-trick for the club seven minutes from time following a
superb run and pass from Leroy Sane.
Meanwhile Arsenal showed there was plenty of life after Alexis Sanchez
as they beat Crystal Palace 4-1 without the United-bound Chilean
forward. With Sanchez moving slowly but surely towards a £35mn (39.6mn
euros, $48.5mn) transfer to United rather than City, Gunners manager
Arsene Wenger left him out of his matchday squad.
Any fears Arsenal might falter up front without him proved groundless as
they surged into a 4-0 lead inside 22 minutes at the Emirates Stadium
thanks to goals from Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Laurent Koscielny, Alex
Iwobi and Alexandre Lacazette before Luka Milivojevic pulled one back
for Palace 12 minutes from time. Arsenal remain outside the top four but
heartened manager Wenger said: “We played our real game in the first
half, real pace and real combination.”
At Turf Moor, it took until the 54th minute for United striker Anthony
Martial to break the deadlock with his third league goal in as many
matches. Jose Mourinho left midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the proposed
makeweight in the Sanchez deal, out of his matchday squad and afterwards
the United manager indicated the transfer saga was nearing an end.
“Expect soon or never,” said Mourinho regarding his prospects of signing
Sanchez. “So close, so close, so close...I know my people are doing
absolutely everything they can.” But Wenger warned: “Sanchez will only
happen if Mkhitaryan comes here, that will be decided in the next 48
hours.”
Chelsea won 4-0 away to Brighton as the reigning English champions
leapfrogged Liverpool into third place, 48 hours before the Reds play
Swansea City. The Blues’ first win of 2018 saw Eden Hazard score twice,
his opener and a goal from Willian making it 2-0 inside six minutes
before Hazard and Victor Moses sealed victory after the break.
On a day when all Premier League fixtures were preceded by a minute’s
applause in memory of the former West Bromwich Albion and England
forward Cyrille Regis, a trailblazer for black players who died aged 59
last week, the Baggies drew 1-1 with Everton.
Jay Rodriguez gave West Brom an early lead before Theo Walcott, on his
Everton debut following a midweek move from Arsenal, laid on an
equaliser for Oumar Niasse in the 70th minute. But the sight of Toffees
midfielder James McCarthy going off with a broken leg after blocking a
Salomon Rondon shot cast a shadow over Everton boss Sam Allardyce’s
1,000th game as a manager.
New Stoke City manager Paul Lambert won his first game in charge of the
Potters as they beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 with second-half goals from
Joe Allen and Mame Biram Diouf to climb out of the relegation zone.
Leicester City beat Watford 2-0 while West Ham and Bournemouth shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
Tottenham Hotspur continue their quest for a Champions League place
today when manager Mauricio Pochettino returns to former club
Southampton.
English Premier League results
Arsenal 4 (Monreal 6, Iwobi 10, Koscielny 13, Lacazette 22) Crystal Palace 1
(Milivojevic 78); Brighton 0 Chelsea 4 (Hazard 3, 77, Willian 6, Moses 89); Burnley 0 Manchester United 1 (Martial 54);
Everton 1 (Niasse 70) West Bromwich Albion 1 (Rodriguez 7); Leicester 2 (Vardy 39-pen, Mahrez 90+1) Watford 0;
Manchester City 3 (Aguero 34, 63, 83) Newcastle United 1 (Murphy 67);
Stoke City 2 (Allen 53, Diouf 69) Huddersfield Town 0; West Ham 1
(Hernandez 73) Bournemouth 1 (Fraser 71)
Playing today (1600 GMT): Southampton v Tottenham. Tomorrow (2000 GMT): Swansea v Liverpool
Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (right) scores his second goal from the penalty spot during the English Premier League match against Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. (AFP)