City tops Arsenal to stay unbeaten
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ENGLISH Premier League leader Manchester City kept up its prolific and undefeated start to the season by beating Arsenal 3-1 yesterday for a club record-extending 15th straight win in all competitions.
Kevin De Bruyne lashed in a 19th-minute opener for City, before second-half goals by Sergio Aguero — from the penalty spot — and substitute Gabriel Jesus took the team’s tally to 38 in 11 league games.
Arsenal recovered to 2-1 thanks to substitute Alexandre Lacazette’s strike through goalkeeper Ederson Moraes’ legs, and protested against City’s second and third goals.
Nacho Monreal only slightly nudged Raheem Sterling for the penalty, while David Silva appeared offside before squaring for Jesus to finish in the 74th.
This game came four days after City’s 4-2 win over Napoli in the UEFA Champions League and it might have taken its toll on Pep Guardiola’s players, who weren’t as fluent as usual even though they created plenty of chances.
Arsenal changed its entire team from its midweek Europa League game and stretched City’s defense at times, especially after Lacazette came on in the 56th.
Still, City reached the latest international break with its unbeaten start intact — and another major rival defeated.
Aguero received a blue boot trophy in an on-pitch presentation before the game after breaking the club’s scoring record in midweek. By slotting home his penalty off the post, he moved onto 179 goals for the club since joining in 2011.
Earlier, Son Heung-min’s second-half goal secured Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
The South Korea midfielder pounced on a weak clearance to curl in a shot from just inside the area in the 64th, as a depleted Spurs side eked out a victory over the league’s last-place team.
Playing four days after beating Real Madrid in the UCL, Tottenham was without forward Dele Alli, center back Toby Alderweireld and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris because of injury.
Spurs have struggled to break down visiting teams that defend in numbers at Wembley Stadium this season, drawing with both Burnley and Swansea City in a season when they have also beaten Real, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund at their temporary home.
They labored at times against Palace and had back-up goalkeeper Paolo Gazzaniga to thank for saves from Scott Dann and Andros Townsend. Palace winger Wilfried Zaha did get past Gazzaniga, but failed to finish into an empty net from an acute angle.
Spurs started the day in third place and stayed third on 23 points, 8 points off leader City.
Manchester United is second, also on 23 points, and was taking on fourth-placed Chelsea (19 points) later, when Everton was also hosting Watford.
On Saturday, the only member of the EPL’s top six in action, Liverpool, took full advantage.
Juergen Klopp’s side won at West Ham United 4-1 to secure successive league victories for the first time since August.
Mohamed Salah scored twice, while Joel Matip and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also found the net as Liverpool made light work of West Ham at the Olympic Stadium in London.
The victory took Liverpool level on points with Chelsea and Arsenal but in fifth place.
“Two weeks ago I felt quite different. We knew after that game at Tottenham (1-4 defeat) that we were bad,” German Klopp said. “We wanted to strike back and the boys did with three really nice results.”
After an embarrassing 0-3 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion in its last home league game, West Ham’s display did little to relieve the increasing pressure on manager Slaven Bilic. “I definitely don’t feel a broken man. I’m very, very strong,” Bilic said. “On the other hand, the situation for West Ham is not good.”
The Hammers dropped to 17th, with just a point separating them from the relegation zone.
Almost as important as the victory for Liverpool, was the return of Sadio Mane.
The Senegal winger missed the last five games after injuring a hamstring on international duty. Mane didn’t score, but coming through 77 minutes unscathed with assists for both of Salah’s goals vindicated Klopp’s decision to start him.
“(Playing) Sadio from the beginning after his injury, after yesterday his second session with the team. I never did it before,” Klopp said. “Sadio is a naturally fit player, a little machine.”
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