Erling Haaland became only the second player to score 30 goals in his debut season at a Premier League club and Kevin De Bruyne reached a milestone of assists as Manchester City eased past Southampton 4-1 to pile the pressure on leaders Arsenal.
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Southampton had held out against the champions until first-half stoppage time at St Mary’s when De Bruyne crossed for Haaland, who had returned to the starting XI after injury, to head in.
It was the Belgian’s 100th Premier League assist in only his 237th match in the competition, the fastest a player has reached the mark.
See: De Bruyne breaks record with 100th assist
Jack Grealish doubled the lead on the 58th minute, converting at the second attempt, before Haaland’s spectacular bicycle kick made it 3-0.
That was the striker’s 30th goal of the season, matching the mark set by Kevin Phillips for Sunderland in the 1999/00 season, his first in the competition. It is also only the 11th time a player has scored as many goals in a Premier League season.
Sekou Mara pulled a goal back for Southampton, but within 30 seconds of the restart, De Bruyne won a penalty converted by Julian Alvarez, Haaland’s replacement, who scored for a third match in a row.
A fifth successive win puts City five points behind Arsenal, who face the tough trip to Liverpool on Sunday. Southampton remain bottom on 23 points, four off safety.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +61 | 89 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +45 | 84 |
Rashford injury mars Man Utd win
Manchester United kept their top-four charge on track by easing past Everton 2-0 in the first match of the day, although the mood was dampened by an injury to Marcus Rashford.
Scott McTominay broke the deadlock for a dominant Man Utd with his first league goal since scoring against Sean Dyche’s Burnley in 2021. It was one of a club-record 21 first-half shots for United.
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Everton provided more resistance in the second half but Rashford capitalised on Seamus Coleman’s error to set up substitute Anthony Martial, sealing a win that takes United to 56 points.
Rashford, United’s 15-goal leading scorer, limped off late on with an apparent groin injury.
An end to Everton’s four-match unbeaten record drops them to 17th with 27 points.
Isak completes Newcastle turnaround
Newcastle United stayed above Man Utd on goal difference after coming from behind to hand Brentford only their second home defeat of the season.
Ivan Toney was the focus of attention in the first half. After converting all of his previous 10 Premier League penalties, he missed his 11th attempt, but the Brentford striker was able to make amends in first-half stoppage time as he was given another spot-kick, and this time he made no mistake.
Newcastle levelled when David Raya diverted Joelinton’s cross into his own net. And Alexander Isak’s fifth goal in five league matches, a brilliant curling strike, gave Newcastle the win that keeps them third on 56 points.
Brentford are ninth with 43 points.
Kane the hero for Spurs
Harry Kane prevented Tottenham Hotspur from losing ground in the top-four race with the winning goal in a 2-1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in a feisty encounter.
Spurs took the lead through Son Heung-min’s brilliant curling strike, making him the first Asian player to score 100 Premier League goals.
Lewis Dunk levelled for Brighton before half-time on his 200th Premier League appearance, heading in at the far post from a corner.
Brighton had the better chances, but after both coaches Cristian Stellini and Roberto De Zerbi were shown red cards, Kane struck to secure Spurs’ fifth home win a row in the league, taking their points total to 53, seven ahead of Brighton, who are two places below.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
38 | +15 | 75 |
| 4 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +35 | 71 |
| 5 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +28 | 67 |
| 6 |
Brighton
BHA
|
38 | +19 | 62 |
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +5 | 61 |
Lampard’s sour return
Frank Lampard suffered defeat on his return to the Premier League, his Chelsea team going down 1-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The only goal was a stunning one as Matheus Nunes scored with a long-range volley, his first strike for Wolves.
It sends Wolves up to 12th on 31 points, four clear of the bottom three. Chelsea are immediately above them with 39 points.
Cherries deepen Leicester’s woes
AFC Bournemouth climbed out of the bottom three with a 1-0 victory over relegation rivals Leicester City.
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Philip Billing got the only goal, pouncing on James Maddison’s misplaced pass to score and send his team up from 18th to 15th with 30 points.
They are five points ahead of Leicester, who are 19th.
Hammers on the up
West Ham United are also on the rise, moving up to 13th thanks to a 1-0 win at Fulham, only their second victory on the road this season.
Harrison Reed scored an own goal from Jarrod Bowen’s cutback to give the Hammers a vital three points that takes their total to 30.
A fourth defeat in a row keeps Fulham 10th on 39 points.
Villa boost European hopes
Aston Villa boosted their hopes of European football, easing past Nottingham Forest 2-0.
Bertrand Traore put Villa ahead, scoring for the second match in a row after Forest failed to clear. Ollie Watkins scored late on for the third match running to seal three points that lift Villa to sixth on 47 points.
Forest have fallen into the relegation zone in 18th on 27 points.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | -9 | 44 |
| 13 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -27 | 41 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
38 | -13 | 40 |
| 15 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -34 | 39 |
| 16 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -30 | 38 |
| 17 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -23 | 36 |
| 18 |
Leicester
LEI
|
38 | -17 | 34 |
| 19 |
Leeds
LEE
|
38 | -30 | 31 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
38 | -37 | 25 |
Sunday preview
There are two matches on Sunday with implications at both ends of the table.
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Relegation rivals Leeds United and Crystal Palace meet at Elland Road, both looking to claim back-to-back wins and move further from the bottom three.
Victory for either team would lift them to 12th.
Arsenal travel to Anfield looking for a first win there in nearly 11 years, which would restore their eight-point lead over Man City.