By Thys Khiba – English Premier League (EPL) champions Manchester City are back at the top of the table, with 3-0 home win over West Ham United giving City their ninth successive EPL victory on Wednesday night.
This comes after Nathan Ake, top goal scorer Erling Haalandand Phil Foden scored goals for Pep Guardiola’s.
Manchester City are ahead of Arsenal with one point and a match in hand and five fixtures remaining.
West Ham went to Etihad Stadium without four of their key players, with Kurt Zouma ruled out with an ankle injury. Captain of the team Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek and Nayef Aguerd all missing due to illness.
West Ham had a positive moment when their five-man defence frustrated Man City in the first half, but Guardiola’s team got the breakthrough in the 50th minute as Riyad Mahrez curled an inviting free kick to the back post and Ake arrives to head in at close range.
Man City scored two goals in the 70th minutes as Haaland ran on to Jack Grealish’s through-ball and chipped a delightful finish over the onrushing Lukasz Fabianski.
The talented Norwegian Haaland scored his 35th Premier League strike of the season, setting a record for goals in a single campaign in the competition.
Former Manchester United footballer Michael Owen said Haaland makes Man City the world’s best team.
The last goal came from Foden who came off the bench in the 77th minute and scored eight minutes later, hitting City’s 1 000thgoal under Pep Guardiola in all competitions, in the Spaniard’s 404th match in charge.
The champions can go four points clear of Arsenal on Saturday when they host Leeds United. Arsenal will visit third-placed Newcastle United in Sunday.
West Ham remain 15th, four points outside the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, Liverpool edged closer to European qualification with a fifth straight Premier League win, their longest run for 13 months, with Mohammed Salah scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 win over Fulham.
Manchester City reclaims EPL top spot
CENTRAL NEWS
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