Teen sends City back to top
MANCHESTER City has exacted a bit of revenge on Tottenham Hotspur and returned to the top of the English Premier League.
Teenager Phil Foden’s first goal gave City a 1-0 win over Spurs, which lifted it a point above Liverpool with four games remaining.
The teams’ second meeting in three days failed to match Wednesday’s European Champions League quarterfinal thriller that City won 4-3 but saw Tottenham go through on away goals.
The defending champion made it 10 straight league wins and put the pressure on Liverpool, which visited relegationthreatened Cardiff overnight.
“It was a real tough game after our mental defeat on Wednesday,” manager Pep Guardiola told the BBC. “We could have lost the Premier League today — after Wednesday it was really tough.”
Foden, an 18-year-old making his second league start, finished off a nice team goal in the fifth minute.
Bernardo Silva sent a ball into the area that Sergio Aguero headed back across goal for the equally unmarked Foden to nod home.
Tottenham remains third, a point above Arsenal and Chelsea, despite its fifth straight away league defeat.
Defeat may prove costly for the North Londoners, with three points separating them from sixth-placed Manchester United, which has played one game fewer.
“It was an amazing game again,” Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said. “Both teams competed really well and I think we deserved more. (City keeper) Ederson was man of the match.”
At the other end of the table, Newcastle all but guaranteed its top-flight status and Socceroos keeper Mathew Ryan kept a clean sheet to help Brighton & Hove Albion earn a valuable point towards safety.
Ayoze Perez’s hat-trick led Newcastle past Southampton 3-1 in a match-up of teams with relegation worries.
The win lifts the Magpies to 12th, 10 points above Cardiff.
Brighton is now three points above Cardiff after drawing 0-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“In the context of things, it’s almost like three points,” Brighton’s Ryan said of the draw. “With our superior goal difference to what Cardiff have, that point can go a long way to making the difference come the end of the day.”
Gerard Deulofeu scored twice as Watford beat bottom side Huddersfield 2-1 and relegated Fulham had its second straight win, beating Bournemouth away 1-0 thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty.
Harvey Barnes’ stoppagetime goal earned Leicester a controversial 2-2 draw at West Ham, who moments earlier had an apparent clincher wrongly disallowed for offside.