LONDON: Brentford striker Ivan Toney responded to being left out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad by scoring twice, including a 98th-minute winner, to seal a shock win at Premier League champions Manchester City.
City slipped five points behind Arsenal after the leaders won 2-0 away to Wolves.
Brentford’s surprise win was richly deserved. They created far more chances and resricted City to just one major chance, wasted by Ilkay Gundogan in the 66th minute.
Bournemouth responded to speculation that Marcelo Bielsa could be set to become their new head coach by producing the most complete performance of interim boss Gary O’Neil’s reign. Their 3-0 win over Everton placed serious questions about the future of visitors’ manager Frank Lampard.
Liverpool entered the World Cup break with their strongest attacking performance in beating Southampton in their first match under new manager Nathan Jones.
Tottenham beat Leeds 4-3 after hitting back from behind three times with goals from Harry Kane, Ben Davies and Rodrigo Bentancur (two).
Leicester won 2-0 at West Ham with an opening goal from surprise England call-up James Maddison. He went off injured later in the first half but manager Brendan Rodgers insisted it was merely a precaution and the midfielder would be fit for Qatar.
Such has been Newcastle’s progress under Eddie Howe that their 1-0 win over Chelsea on a Joe Willock goal was no shock, with their performance justifying the three points.
Howe’s side enter the World Cup break just two points behind champions Manchester City and in the top three at Christmas for the first time in 21 years.
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