LONDON: Manchester City are top of the Premier League for the first time since February 17 thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Pep Guardiola’s men were pushed until the end by Fulham, who stuck doggedly with the in-form champions throughout the match.

Far more experienced top-flight sides might have crumbled when Erling Haaland netted his 50th goal of the season from the penalty spot after just three minutes.

However, Fulham managed to find a leveller a little over 10 minutes later through Carlos Vinicius, who has struggled for goals since he became a regular starter in the absence of the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic.

It took a touch of class from Julian Alvarez to restored the visitors’ advantage in the first half, superbly curling home what proved to be the winner.

It was Fulham who looked most likely to score again as the game neared its conclusion, but City held on to move above Arsenal.

Liverpool assumed the role of chief Champions League football challengers as they moved into fifth place after a late 4-3 win over Tottenham.

A week after conceding five in the opening 21 minutes at Newcastle, history started to repeat itself after another shambolic opening to a game from Spurs, who were 3-0 down inside 15 minutes courtesy of goals from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.

That the visitors got back on level terms through Harry Kane – equalling Wayne Rooney’s 208 Premier League total – Son Heung-min and Richarlison, in added time, said as much about the home side’s sloppiness when cruising as it did Tottenham’s powers of recovery which had earned them a come-from-behind draw against Manchester United on Thursday.

However, there was one final twist as straight from the kick-off following Richarlison’s equaliser, Diogo Jota scored his fifth goal in four appearances to snatch victory and stay in the race – albeit outsiders – for the top four, seven points behind Manchester United having played one match more.

It may have been a different Spurs interim manager – Ryan Mason now in charge after Cristian Stellini’s sacking – and a different formation but the same problems were present with a lack of intensity and understanding of the task at hand leaving the visitors wide open in the early stages.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, continuing in his new hybrid right-back midfield role, can open up most teams even without the assistance he was given by a lack of pressure on him.

His cross to the far post demanded to be fired home and Jones did just that for his first goal since September 2021, in doing so making Alexander-Arnold the first player in Premier League history to twice provide an assist in five consecutive games.

His recent form in his new role will have had the watching England manager Gareth Southgate wondering whether he can afford to adopt it himself, having left the 24-year-old out of his last squad.

Liverpool doubled their advantage two minutes later when Diaz, making his first start since October, showed greater desire than Cristian Romero to meet Cody Gakpo’s cut-back with a smartly-taken volley.

Harvey Elliott’s brilliant through-ball picked out Gakpo, exploiting the scarcely believable spaces in Spurs’ back five, but he was eventually squeezed out by Romero.

The suffering Spurs fans chanted ‘We want our money back’, having this week been offered a refund for their St James’ Park experience, but their self-deprecation turned to anger when Romero brought down Gakpo and Salah fired home his first penalty success in three attempts.

It was the seventh successive home match in which the Egypt international had scored and it moved him past Robbie Fowler and just two behind Steven Gerrard in Liverpool’s all-time leading scorers list with 184 in 300 games.

That goal confirmed Tottenham’s position as the Premier League’s worst team in the first 15 minutes, with their league-high 13 goals conceded in that period only beaten by Wolves, Ipswich and Sheffield in the competition’s history.

Alexander-Arnold released Gakpo again for another chance and Salah curled wide from the edge of the box. Liverpool’s press was ferocious but Spurs’ organisation was atrocious and Oliver Skipp was lucky to escape any punishment for going over the top on Diaz.

Tottenham had not had a touch inside the opposition penalty area in the opening 28 minutes and the only danger to Liverpool appeared to be themselves as the game seemed just too easy.

However, in a moment, the dynamic changed as, with the press a little less dynamic and the concentration a little less focused, Virgil van Dijk was forced to clear Son’s goalbound shot after Andy Robertson gave the ball to Kane.

But the Netherlands captain was left sprawling on the turf when Ivan Perisic broke down the left into the space left by Alexander-Arnold and Kane volleyed home his cross from close range for his ninth goal against Liverpool, behind only Andy Cole (11) in terms of Premier League strikes against the Reds.

Spurs had displayed their comeback ability in midweek and having been sent out early for the second half, their improved attitude showed as Son, who had hit the woodwork when offside late in the first half, smashed a shot against one post and Romero volleyed against the other within a matter of seconds of each other.

Callum Wilson came off the bench to score twice as Newcastle fought back to strengthen their claims on Champions League qualification and edge Southampton towards the trapdoor with a 3-1 win.

Left out of Eddie Howe’s starting line-up despite scoring twice at Everton on Thursday evening, the England striker produced the perfect response after his half-time introduction, cancelling out Stuart Armstrong’s first-half opener and then helping himself to a second after Theo Walcott’s own goal had given the Magpies the lead.

Wilson’s 14th and 15th goals of the season contributed to a fourth win of the campaign over the Saints and an eighth in nine Premier League outings, to keep Newcastle ahead of Manchester United in the race for the top four.

Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes
Bruno Fernandes’ strike strengthened Manchester United’s grip on Champions League qualification and ended Aston Villa’s 10-match unbeaten run.

Unai Emery has overseen an incredible turnaround since replacing Steven Gerrard and kicking off his Villa reign with an impressive win against the Red Devils in November.

But Fernandes’ first-half goal sealed United a 1-0 victory amid a backdrop of anti-Glazer protests on Sunday.

United had failed to win their last three Premier League matches against the Birmingham outfit and looked determined to halt that run as they flew out of the blocks at Old Trafford.

Leeds’ relegation fears increased after Jefferson Lerma’s double helped Bournemouth virtually secure their own safety with a vital 4-1 home win.

The Cherries moved level with Chelsea on 39 points and 10 clear of the bottom three after Lerma’s brace was backed up by second-half strikes from Dominic Solanke and Antoine Semenyo.

It all but confirms Bournemouth will be a Premier League club next season and continues Gary O’Neil’s excellent debut campaign in the managerial hotseat.

For Leeds it is a very different story with Patrick Bamford’s first-half goal a mere consolation for Javi Gracia’s side, who remain 16th but are outside of the relegation zone by one point and face Manchester City and Newcastle during the next fortnight.

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