CITY BOUNCE BACK TO BEAT SAINTS AND CLOSE IN ON LIVERPOOL
Champions get title defence back up, Chelsea keep chasing
SOUTHAMPTON: Manchester City got their faltering Premier League title defence back on track with a 3-1 win at Southampton thanks to two quick goals just before halftime.
After throwing away an early lead yesterday, City provided a reminder of their devastating attacking potential by netting twice in first-half injury time to end a run of two straight losses and three defeats in their last four Premier League games.
David Silva and Sergio Aguero scored for the visitors, who also benefited from a fortunate owngoal by James Ward-Prowse.
Southampton finished the game with 10 men after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who had scored the team’s equaliser, was sent off in the 85th minute for a reckless tackle on Fernandinho.
The win puts Pep Guardiola’s team back into second place, two points ahead of Tottenham but still seven behind leaders Liverpool ahead of their top-of-the-table clash on Thursday.
City took the lead in the 10th minute through Silva, who met a cross from Bernardo Silva with a simple finish from in front of goal. But City’s recent habit of making costly mistakes continued as leftback Oleksandr Zinchenko allowed Hojbjerg to rob him of the ball, and the Southampton midfielder stormed forward, dribbling between Vincent Kompany and Aymeric Laporte before firing a fierce shot past goalkeeper Ederson.
Minutes later, Ward-Prowse appealed for a penalty when he was pushed over by Zinchenko in the area. But referee Paul Tierney waved play on and Ward-Prowse instead found himself putting City ahead at the other end during a decisive momentum swing.
Raheem Sterling dribbled past Ward-Prowse down the left side of the Southampton area and tried to send in a cross that was deflected by the midfielder into his own net, with goalkeeper Alex McCarthy unable to react in time to keep it out.
It was a slice of luck for City, and Southampton had hardly recovered from the setback before the visitors doubled their lead. Zinchenko made amends for his previous mistake by sending in a pinpoint cross for Aguero to head home with virtually the last touch of the first half.
City then largely dominated the second half, with Aguero hitting the crossbar and Sterling having a penalty appeal of his own turned down.
Southampton’s slim hopes of a comeback were then ended by Hojbjerg’s poor tackle on Fernandinho, which summed up a frustrating afternoon for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.
TE 1-Soccer-Kante strike gives Chelsea 1-0 win at Crystal Palace
Chelsea kept up their pursuit of the Premier League’s top three clubs with a 1-0 win away to London rivals Crystal Palace, thanks to a strike by N’Golo Kante early in the second half.
Chelsea had to work hard to break down Palace who had taken seven points in their previous three matches, including a shock win over champions City, but seemed content to allow their visitors most of the possession.
After a sterile first 35 minutes, Willian smacked the post with a swinging free-kick and Ross Barkley
hit the same upright soon afterwards with an acrobatic overhead effort.
Kante broke the deadlock in the 51st minute when his darting run into the Palace penalty area was spotted by defender David Luiz who fed the France World Cup winner to score from close range.
Palace substitute Connor Wickham spurned the hosts’ best chance of the game when he toe-punted a shot over the bar in the dying minutes.
The win also gave Chelsea an important five-point cushion over Arsenal, their nearest challengers for the fourth Champions League spot who were hammered 5-1 by Liverpool on Saturday.
“It is never easy to play here or control it here especially when they (Palace) play long balls but we did well. We could have scored early but they also did a great match defensively which is why it was so difficult,” Chelsea’s Luiz told reporters.
Chelsea forward Olivier Giroud had two goals ruled out for offside and then was forced off injured.
Coach Maurizio Sarri said the Frenchman had an ankle problem which looked set to rule him out of Wednesday’s game against Southampton and adds to the team’s fitness problems, particularly in attack with Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Ruben Loftus Cheek also currently sidelined.
“We played against a dangerous opponent so we had to have possession, we played well in the first 45 minutes and even better in the second half, the only thing I didn’t like is that we didn’t kill the match off,” added the Italian.
“That meant it was hard to defend the match in the box in the final minutes.” — Agencies