Manchester City beats Newcastle, Arsenal mazes and retains its lead
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Manchester City did not pull any punches in the battle for the championship in the Premier League. It went anything but smoothly, but number five Newcastle United were swept aside 2-0.
Leaders Arsenal in turn won 3-2 from Bournemouth after a miraculous escape, keeping the gap five points.
‘The Citizens’ took the lead after 15 minutes when Phil Foden turned on. The Englishman rounded three defenders and had a lucky finish. Sven Botman touched his shot, passing goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Foden is the man in form at City. In the previous two games, he has already scored three goals. Top scorer Erling Haaland has had a little more trouble finding the net lately. The Norwegian striker scored only two goals in his last seven duels.
Thousandth home goal
Against Newcastle, Haaland had a good header chance, but he nodded the ball just wide. At the back, Nathan Aké was able to distinguish himself, blocking a last-minute effort from Sean Longstaff.
After halftime, Newcastle made increasing claims for the equalizer. Former Willem II striker Aleksander Isak headed just wide. Shortly afterwards, Bernardo Silva, who had just stepped in, shot the 2-0. That was City’s thousandth ever home goal in Premier League history. 840 of those were made at the Etihad, the remaining 160 at Maine Road, the old stadium.
In the closing stages, Haaland asserted himself on a negative note. The strong striker received a yellow card after a riot, as did Newcastle defender Dan Burn.
Ex-Feyenoorder saves Arsenal
Leaders Arsenal won a hard-fought victory in the Premier League. Against low-flyer Bournemouth point loss threatened, but in the final seconds it won after all thanks to a goal by ex-Feyenoord player Reiss Nelson: 3-2.
Bournemouth were 1-0 up after only nine counts. After that, the home team dominated and had chances through Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka (rebound). Even after halftime, Arsenal had the upper hand, but Marcos Senesi only compounded London’s worries with a crisp header.
Arsenal bit off and equalized within 15 minutes. Thomas Partey provided the tying goal. And after a Ben White blast was spectacularly saved, goal-line technology indicated the ball had crossed the line after all.
A rain of attacks followed. With a beautiful blast, Nelson became the celebrated man.
