City, Liverpool still on top after cruisy wins
MANCHESTER City and Liverpool have kept pace at the top of the English Premier League as each claimed convincing away victories.
David Silva, Raheem Sterling and two Leroy Sane goals gave leader City a 4-0 win at West Ham on Saturday while Mo Salah, Trent AlexanderArnold and Roberto Firmino kept Liverpool within two points of top spot with a 3-0 win at Watford.
Tottenham leapfrogged Chelsea into third spot with a 3-1 win over its fellow London side in the day’s late match.
New Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri had an instant effect as his side beat Southampton 3-2 to move off the bottom of the table, while Manchester United was held to a goalless draw at home by Crystal Palace.
City was done and dusted by halftime after Silva, with a flick, Sterling, with an easy finish and Sane, with a superb third, made it 3-0 at the break.
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini threw on three substitutes at the interval but although they improved, Sane grabbed a second late on to rub further salt into the wounds.
“I give a lot of credit to our players for the victory, but it was not the best performance,” City manager Pep Guardiola said.
“I think we got a bit lucky. West Ham had a lot of chances and should have scored. But we will have more chances to be a lot better.”
Liverpool produced a superb second-half performance as it won 3-0 at Watford, having been frustrated in the first half.
Salah opened the scoring on 67 minutes and AlexanderArnold then fired in a superb free kick nine minutes later.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was sent off for a second bookable offence eight minutes from time but Roberto Firmino added a third with a minute of normal time to go.
“How we closed down the game was just brilliant, especially the third goal,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Son Heung Min scored the goals as Tottenham ended Chelsea’s unbeaten record with a convincing victory.
Olivier Giroud pulled one back late on with a header but Spurs were good value for their win.
Alexander Mitrovic scored twice, including the winner, as Fulham responded to the arrival of manager Ranieri with a 3-2 win over fellow struggler Southampton, ending a run of seven straight defeats.
The result lifted Fulham off the bottom, with Huddersfield, which was away to Wolves on Sunday, dropping to last.
Everton moved above Manchester United into sixth thanks to a 1-0 win over Cardiff, with Gylfi Sigurdsson snatching the winner just after the hour mark.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho had suggested his side could crack the top four by the end of the year but they slipped to seventh after failing to break down Crystal Palace.