Man City return to winning ways with win over Brighton
IMAGE: Manchester City’s Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring their second goal. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff /Reuters
Manchester City got back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to first-half goals by Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland.
After back-to-back league defeats, City were cruising to victory but Ansu Fati’s 73rd-minute reply for Brighton threatened to make it an anxious finale at the Etihad Stadium.
Alvarez opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a scuffed shot following great work by Jeremy Doku.
With influential midfielder Rodri back from suspension, City dominated the first half and Haaland took advantage of sloppy Brighton play to smash in City’s second after 19 minutes.
City should have added to their total but Brighton made things interesting when Fati slotted home and the hosts ended with 10 men after Manuel Akanji was shown a second yellow card deep in stoppage time.
Akanji will miss next week’s Manchester derby.
Victory lifted champions City back to the top of the table with 21 points from nine games, although Arsenal could go top with a win at Chelsea in a later kickoff.
There was clear relief after almost 10 minutes of stoppage time for City’s players and manager Pep Guardiola who had only lost three successive league games once in his career.
City were not back to their fluent best but Brighton, who dropped to seventh, deserve credit for the way they stretched the hosts after such a poor start.
Doku was again preferred to Jack Grealish and the Belgian’s pace was a constant thorn in Brighton’s side.
It was his teasing run down the left and cut back that helped City open the scoring although Alvarez’s strike was far from flush but evaded Jason Steele.
Haaland had gone almost a month without a goal for City but he needed no second invitation to end that dry spell as Brighton made a mess of a throw-in deep in their own half and the Norwegian was allowed through to fire past Steele for his 45th Premier League goal in 44 games.
Wolves pounce on late error to beat 10-man Bournemouth 2-1
IMAGE: Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Sasa Kalajdzic celebrates scoring their second goal with teammate Rayan Ait-Nouri. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Reuters
Bournemouth remain winless in the Premier League after Gary O’Neil’s Wolverhampton Wanderers beat his former club 2-1 with a late winner from Sasa Kalajdzic on the south coast on Saturday.
O’Neil, who helped Bournemouth secure their top-flight survival last season, was sacked in June and replaced by Andoni Iraola hours later. But he made a winning return to the Vitality Stadium to put more pressure on his Spanish counterpart.
Wolves moved up to 12th with their third win of the season while Bournemouth, who have dropped 11 points from winning positions this season, remain in the relegation zone in 19th with three points.
Wolves forward Pedro Neto rattled the bar early on but it was Bournemouth who took the lead through a fast-flowing move down the right, which finished with Philip Billing finding Dominic Solanke in the box for a calm flick into the net.
But Wolves came out on the front foot in the second half and needed only 71 seconds to equalise when Neto drove into the box and found Matheus Cunha who curled a first-time effort into the back of the net.
Things went from bad to worse for Bournemouth seven minutes later when Lewis Cook saw red after he hacked down Hwang Hee-chan and head-butted the South Korean striker when he squared up in anger.
With the two sides seemingly set to share the spoils, Bournemouth keeper Neto took a quick goal kick in the 88th minute only for Wolves to pounce and win the ball back from Billing. Hwang then set up substitute Kalajdzic for an easy late winner.
Murphy magic as Newcastle thrash hapless Palace
IMAGE: Newcastle United’s Jacob Murphy celebrates scoring. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters
Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy scored his side’s first goal and made two more as they secured a sizzling 4-0 win over Crystal Palace at St James’ Park on Saturday to move up to fifth in the Premier League table.
Murphy teamed up with full back Kieran Trippier to torment Palace during a brilliant first-half display in which they scored three goals and wasted almost as many gilt-edged chances as they dominated their visitors.
The 28-year-old Murphy set Newcastle on their way in the fourth minute as he met Trippier’s cushioned first-time pass with a brilliant volley that flew over Palace keeper Sam Johnstone and into the net.
The home side wasted a number of decent chances before Murphy teed up Anthony Gordon, who had previously hit the crossbar, to double the lead with a sumptuous first-time finish in the 44th minute.
Newcastle midfielder Sean Longstaff added another in stoppage time to send his team in 3-0 up after 45 minutes of complete domination in which Palace failed to register a shot on target.
They finally troubled home keeper Nick Pope in the 66th minute but he was equal to the task, and less than a minute later Callum Wilson got Newcastle’s fourth, making the most of a brilliant ball bent in by Murphy and guiding it past Johnstone to round off the scoring.
Pope pulled off a brilliant save in the 85th minute to keep out Odsonne Edouard’s free kick and keep his clean sheet intact as Newcastle coasted to a comfortable win that left them fifth in the standings on 16 points, five behind leaders Manchester City and four ahead of Palace in 11th.
Brentford beat 10-man Burnley 3-0 to end win drought
IMAGE: Burnley’s Dara O’Shea in action with Brentford’s Frank Onyeka. Photograph: Ian Walton/Reuters
Brentford beat 10-man Burnley 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday with strike partners Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo back on target to give the West Londoners a first home win of the season and end a six game victory drought in all competitions.
The 1-0 halftime scoreline at the Community Stadium flattered the visitors, who had England under-21 goalkeeper James Trafford to thank for keeping them in the game with a series of outstanding saves.
Brentford could easily have been three or four goals up by the break, with returning Everton loanee Neal Maupay setting the tone from the second minute with a shot just wide past a diving Trafford.
Maupay had the ball in the back of the net after eight minutes but the flag was up and the header was ruled offside after a VAR review.
Wissa broke the deadlock in the 25th with a simple tap-in from close range after a cross from Mbeumo, who doubled the tally in the 62nd minute with a powerful curling shot from outside the box into the top corner.
Second half substitute Saman Ghoddos made it 3-0 on the half-volley in the 87th after Burnley defender Connor Roberts was sent off for a second yellow in the 78th.
Maupay also had several chances to score, his shot at Trafford in the 28th minute escaping under the keeper and rolling tantalisingly towards goal before Dara O’Shea hurriedly cleared it away.
The Frenchman had another chance tipped over the bar by Trafford in the 43rd, with the goalkeeper also saving an earlier Mbeumo effort.
