Gundogan double pushes Manchester City closer to title

Ilkay Gundogan (L) of Manchester City celebrates scoring.
Photo: Photosport

Hard-charging Manchester City went four points clear of Arsenal at the top the Premier League on Sunday, beating Leeds United 2-1 with a pair of near-identical goals from Ilkay Gundogan, stretching their winning league run to 10 games.

City’s prolific striker Erling Haaland graciously handed the ball to Gundogan to take a penalty kick in the 84th minute for what would have been a hat-trick, but Leeds keeper Joel Robles had no trouble turning aside his shot.

Pep Guardiola’s side had run circles around Leeds with numerous excellent scoring chances before Gundogan struck in the 19th minute from the edge of the 18-yard box off a pass from Riyad Mahrez. Mahrez teed up Gundogan again eight minutes later in a carbon copy of his first goal.

“We played an exceptional game,” Guardiola told BBC.

“Our possession game was really good. First half was exceptional. We were maybe not as clinical as we should be.

“The second half, we cannot forget it is three games in six days with a lot of mental pressure. At the end, the game could be over with the penalty. But they score and we have to suffer. But we played really, really good.”

Guardiola had wanted Haaland to take the penalty, yelling: “You take it!”

“The game is not over,” the Spaniard said.

“It shows how nice and generous Erling is. If it is 4-0 with 10 minutes left, OK. But at 2-0? Erling is the best penalty taker right now so he has to take it.”

Rodrigo Moreno pulled one back for Leeds in the 85th minute.

With four games left, City have 82 points to Arsenal’s 78, and if the Gunners lose to Newcastle on Sunday, City will be the overwhelming favourites to lock in a third consecutive title.

Leeds, playing their first game under interim manager Sam Allardyce who was parachuted in in a last-ditch effort to avoid relegation, are teetering in 17th place – and all three teams below them have a game in hand.

Allardyce admitted it looked bound to be a blowout at halftime, but Leeds “changed in terms of pushing up the pitch.”

SPURS BEAT CRYSTAL PALACE

Harry Kane moved up to second place in the all-time Premier League goalscorers list as he helped ailing Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, securing their first victory in five games.

Kane headed Tottenham in front in first-half injury time to score his 209th Premier League goal, one more than Wayne Rooney but still some way behind record-holder Alan Shearer’s tally of 260.

Tottenham’s victory lifted them to sixth in the table with 57 points from 35 games. They are six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United who occupy the last of the Champions League qualification places having played two games more. Palace are in 12th with 40 points.

Tottenham had conceded 15 goals in their previous four games, but there was no danger of that in a flat opening period from both sides that was lacking in clear-cut chances until it sprung to life in injury-time.

Club captain Kane started the move that led to the winning goal as he sent the ball out wide to Pedro Porro in acres of space on the right wing and the Spaniard then sent a cross to the back post, leaving the striker to head the ball in.

“It was tough but really important to get the three points and a clean sheet,” Kane told reporters. “Palace are in a good vein of form, so we knew it would be difficult.

“Scoring just on halftime helped and we defended well in the second (period). So overall, a good three points.”

Tottenham hit the crossbar before their goal from a Cristian Romero header and dominated the second half in terms of possession, as Son Heung-min wasted a superb chance to make it 2-0 but could not beat Sam Johnstone in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Kane scored twice in Tottenham’s 4-0 win at Selhurst Park earlier in the season but had a quiet afternoon bar his goal, with his other major contribution a scrambled clearance in his own box late on.

CHELSEA BEAT BOURNEMOUTH

Chelsea’s interim manager Frank Lampard said he was happy to see his side finally playing like a team after they snapped a nine-match winless run in all competitions with a 3-1 victory at Bournemouth.

Chelsea have looked a fractured outfit after a number of arrivals in the last two transfer windows and three different managers this season, but they showed glimpses of finally gelling together as a unit to end a six-match losing run.

While Chelsea are still 11th in the Premier League with four games left, Lampard said the win would be a boost as they look to end the season on a high after just their second away victory of the year.

“I’m happy. We came in off the back of a tough run, it’s been a tough year and there is a lot work to do,” Lampard told the BBC.

“But the performance and the result in isolation are really good, we deserved to win the game. It’s a nice step forward for the lads. To work hard and come to a place that has been very hard for a lot of teams this year… I’m very happy.

“In the modern game, those changes are huge. It’s important with the squad that we have that people feel like they can come in and affect the game. We’ve worked towards that and I think every one of them did.”

Lampard said there were still a lot of players finding their feet, especially youngsters, and urged them to ‘grasp’ confidence from the performance.

“Typically at Chelsea, one or two have fed into the group and now we have more. It’s understandable that as a group finding rhythm and confidence can be difficult,” Lampard added.

“This is a first step. It won’t be plain sailing but there is talent there and the players need to come together to get us to where we want to be.”

LIVERPOOL BEAT BRENTFORD

An early goal by Mohamed Salah was enough to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over Brentford that keeps the pressure on fierce rivals Manchester United in the hunt for Champions League football next season.

Their sixth league win in a row left the Merseysiders in fifth spot on 62 points, one behind fourth-placed United, but the Red Devils have two games in hand over Liverpool. Brentford are ninth on 50 points.

Before the game got underway, the Liverpool fans loudly booed, whistled and chanted their team’s name as the national anthem was played to mark the coronation of King Charles in London earlier on Saturday.

Expecting the visitors to sit deep, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp deployed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo in a star-studded attack, and it quickly paid off as Salah broke the deadlock in the 13th minute.

The Egyptian started the move before Fabinho crossed to Virgil van Dijk at the back post, and the big Dutchman headed the ball back for Salah to bundle home his 100th goal at Anfield.

Bryan Mbeumo out-sprinted and out-muscled Van Dijk to fire home in the 40th minute for Brentford, but the flag went up for a marginal offside that was confirmed by VAR and the goal was disallowed.

Nunez missed a superb chance to make it 2-0 in the 29th minute as Trent Alexander-Arnold played a brilliant pass over the top to him, but the Uruguayan guided his first-time effort wide of the near post.

Gakpo missed an even better chance early in the second half as Jota flashed a ball across the box, but it struck the striker on the shins and he couldn’t get it on target.

With Brentford struggling to create anything of note and only managing a single shot on target, Salah’s goal proved enough for the home side to claim the victory.