FOOTBALL – MANCHESTER City’s Erling Haaland became the fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals to ignite their charge last night and then Pep Guardiola’s men held off a furious comeback effort from Fulham in a wild 5-4 win.
Phil Foden bagged a double, Tijjani Reijnders also struck and Sander Berge scored an own goal to keep City firmly in the title hunt in second place with 28 points. Leaders Arsenal, who have 30 points, host Brentford on Wednesday.
City looked to be heading for a rout at Craven Cottage with a gaping 5-1 lead but Fulham roared back with three second-half goals – a brace from Samuel Chukwueze and one from Alex Iwobi – for a thrilling finish.
Haaland struck with a blistering left-footed shot in the 17th minute, Reijnders doubled City’s lead in the 37th, and Foden struck his first in the 44th minute with a beautiful shot from outside the box into the top-left corner.
Fulham’s Emile Smith Rowe pulled one back with a diving header seconds before halftime, but Foden completed his double in the 48th minute from the top of the six-yard box and Berge’s own goal padded City’s lead six minutes later.
But Fulham were not done as Iwobi struck in the 57th minute, and Chukwueze scored in the 72nd and 78th, thanks to some lacklustre City defending. Josko Gvardiol cleared a Fulham shot off the goal line deep in injury time as City’s fans breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Jack Grealish’s second Premier League goal for Everton earned a scrappy 1-0 win at Bournemouth, ending their hosts’ unbeaten run at home in the league this season.
Everton’s third victory in four games, and first ever in the league at Bournemouth, takes them to 21 points from 14 matches and ninth place in the standings. Bournemouth are in 14th with 19 points.
There was some nice play from both sides until they got near the opposition box, and they lacked quality in the final third until Grealish earned the win in the 78th minute.
Carlos Alcaraz intercepted the ball in midfield and fed Grealish, who drove towards goal and his shot from the edge of the box took a wicked deflection off defender Bafode Diakite and settled into the bottom corner of the net.
Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero scored with a diving header and an overhead kick to snatch a 2-2 draw for his side at Newcastle United in an entertaining clash, with the equaliser coming deep in stoppage time.
Newcastle dominated the game but it took until the 71st minute for them to score through substitute Bruno Guimaraes before Romero levelled with Spurs’ first effort on target, stealing in front of Dan Burn to power his header home.
The visitors’ joy was short-lived as Rodrigo Bentancur conceded a penalty that Anthony Gordon converted in the 86th before defender Romero went up for a late corner and scored with a bicycle kick that bounced through the defence into the net.
The point leaves Tottenham 11th in the table on 19 points, with Newcastle two places behind on goal difference.
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