Arsenal move step closer to title
LONDON, March 19, (AP): Bukayo Saka struck twice as Arsenal moved a step closer to the Premier League title by beating Crystal Palace 4-1 on Sunday.
The Gunners are eight points clear of current champions Manchester City, having played a game more.
Palace, who fired manager Patrick Vieira this week, saw its relegation concerns deepen after stretching its winless run to 13 games in all competitions.
Saka scored twice and set up the opener for Gabriel Martinelli, becoming the first Premier League player this season to reach double figures for both goals and assists.
Granit Xhaka was also on the score sheet.
Martinelli opened the scoring the 28th minute after turning in Saka’s cross.
Saka added a second in the 43rd after collecting a pass from Ben White and finishing low past Palace goalkeeper Joe Whitworth.
Saka then saw an effort cleared off the line as Arsenal started the second half in the same dominant manner as it ended the first.
Xhaka made it 3-0 in the 55th after exchanging passes with Leandro Trossard and finishing from close range.
Schlupp pulled one back for Palace in the 63rd, but any thoughts of an unlikely comeback were ended when Saka struck again in the 74th.
Palace is three points above the relegation zone, but fellow strugglers Bournemouth, West Ham, Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Leeds have games in hand.
Chelsea’s three-game winning streak in all competitions came to a halt as Everton came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw .
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the first equalizer and set up the second for substitute Ellis Simms in the 89th minute to earn what could be a crucial point in Everton’s fight against relegation.
It was Simms’ first goal for Everton but he showed both composure and confidence as he held off a defender and beat goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with a low shot from a tight angle to silence the Stamford Bridge crowd.
Chelsea was looking for a third straight win in the league but struggled to create much in a forgettable first half against a compact Everton side.
Then the game came to life after the break.
Joao Felix finally broke the deadlock in the 52nd with a low shot past Jordan Pickford and U.S. forward Christian Pulisic - making his first start since Jan. 5 - thought he had doubled the lead with a curling effort minutes later, but it
was disallowed for offside.
Instead, Doucoure leveled with a header from a corner in the 69th that went over Kepa and crossed the line before it was cleared by Kai Havertz.
But Chelsea was back in front after Reece James was fouled in the area and Havertz converted from the penalty spot in the 76th.
Simms came on shortly afterward and had the last say with a composed finish after Doucoure had teed up his run into the area.
The draw means Everton is two points above the relegation zone in 15th place. Chelsea is in 10th place.
The goals just keep flowing for Erling Haaland and Manchester City, no matter the competition.
Haaland bagged another hat trick to make it eight goals in his last two games as City eased into the FA Cup semifinals with a 6-0 home win over Championship side Burnley y. That came on the heels of a 7-0 win over Leipzig on Tuesday in the Champions League - when Haaland netted five - showing that City may be hitting another gear as it enters the decisive part of the season.
It was City’s sixth straight win in all competitions, having scored 23 goals in that stretch.
“We are in that part of the season where we should be at our best,” said Haaland, whose extraordinary tally is now at 42 goals in all competitions. “Now is when things get decided.”
City is still in the hunt for three trophies, but while Pep Guardiola’s team are the big favorites in the FA Cup they may need to maintain this kind of form to win the other two. They face Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals next month.
The buildup to Burnley’s visit to the Etihad had all been about its manager Vincent Kompany, the former City captain who already has a statue outside the stadium after winning 10 major trophies with
the club.
Haaland may get his own statue before his playing career is even over if he keeps scoring at this rate.
The prolific Norwegian scored his first two goals in a threeminute span shortly after the halfhour mark and completed his hat trick by slotting in a rebound in the 59th.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez also scored twice while the 20-year-old Cole Palmer got on the scoresheet as Burnley’s resistance collapsed over the last 30 minutes. Gary Lineker was back on the air to spearhead the BBC’s coverage of the game after being suspended last week for criticizing the U.K. government’s migration policy.