The Malta Independent on Sunday
Man United puts City’s title celebrations on hold with 3-2 win
Football in the UK
Manchester United delayed the English Premier League title celebrations of fierce rival Manchester City after coming from two goals down to win 3-2 in a thrilling derby yesterday.
City’s players might have to wait another two weeks to get their hands on the trophy following a second-half collapse at Etihad Stadium sparked by two quick goals by Paul Pogba - the man apparently offered to City in January, according to an extraordinary pre-match revelation by Pep Guardiola.
City toyed with United in the first half, scoring through Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan, and threatened to put its neighbour out of sight to wrap up the title with a record six matches to spare.
United was a different side after halftime. Pogba - playing with blue dye in his hair, a contentious decision in the circumstances - finished off a flowing team move to reduce the deficit in the 53rd before equalising off a header from Alexis Sanchez’s cross.
Chris Smalling scored the winning goal by volleying in Sanchez’s free kick in the 69th.
City’s lead was trimmed to 13 points by United, meaning even a win at Tottenham next Saturday would not secure City a third league title in six years. In that case, United could prolong the title race by beating West Bromwich Albion a day later.
It will be a satisfying win for Jose Mourinho over his big managerial rival Pep Guardiola, even though he will surely be beaten to the title by the Spaniard.
Mourinho insisted publicly that his priority yesterday was to get a win to consolidate second place in the standings and it did just that. With third-place Liverpool held at local rival Everton to 0-0 hours earlier, United is four points clear in second.
Winning the Premier League never comes easy for City, even in a record-breaking season like this one. Its previous title wins came in 2012 and 2014, sealing the trophy only on the final day on both occasions.
This loss comes three days after losing to Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal at Anfield. The return leg is at Etihad on Tuesday - Guardiola fielded a slightly weakened side against United as a result - and confidence cannot be high Football going into it.
As for Pogba, it completes a strange 24 hours after being thrust into the center of a storm on Friday by Guardiola saying he was offered the chance to sign the France midfielder by the player’s agent, Mino Raiola.
Pogba had a brief chat with Guardiola after the final whistle, then went to United’s fans and patted the badge on his chest.
SALAH UNCERTAINTY
Man City’s focus now switches to the Champions League - and there’s still uncertainty over the fitness of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah for the quarterfinal second leg on Tuesday.
After Liverpool’s goalless draw at Everton in the Merseyside derby, which Salah missed, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp was coy about the Egyptian’s chances of playing in midweek.
Asked if Salah will be fit, Klopp said: "That’s what everyone thinks but at the end we will see."
Klopp made five changes for the game, with Roberto Firmino among those on the bench, and was thankful for late misses by Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott that allowed Liverpool to extend its unbeaten run in the derby to 17 matches.
ERIKSEN DOUBLE
Tottenham drew level on points with third-place Liverpool thanks to Christian Eriksen’s double in a 21 win at Stoke.
Harry Kane was back in Spurs’ starting lineup after an ankle injury and was looking to trim the gap to Salah in the race for the Golden Boot. Salah is ahead 29-24.
Instead, Eriksen was the matchwinner. Having slotted home from Dele Alli’s pass for the opener, the Denmark playmaker curled in a free kick that avoided everyone and crept home in the 63rd.
RELEGATION SCRAP
It looks like there’s no hope for West Bromwich Albion, which is 10 points from safety with five games left after drawing at home to Swansea 1-1. Next-to-last Stoke is four points adrift of safety after its loss to Tottenham.
It’s tight for the other relegation place, with third-to-last Southampton a point above Stoke with two games in hand, the first coming at Arsenal on Sunday.
Above them, Crystal Palace missed a chance to pull clear of trouble after conceding another late goal, this time in the 89th minute in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. Brighton and Huddersfield still aren’t safe after drawing 1-1. Yesterday Everton-Liverpool..........................0-0 Bournemouth-Crystal P .................2-2 Brighton-Huddersfield .................. 1-1 Leicester C.-Newcastle U................1-2 Stoke C.-Tottenham H....................1-2 Watford-Burnley ...........................1-2 West Bromwich-Swansea C. ..........1-1 Manchester C.-Manchester U. .......2-3
PW D L F A Pts Man City 32 27 3 2 90 24 84 Man United 32 22 5 5 63 25 71 Liverpool 33 19 10 4 75 35 67 Tottenham 32 20 7 5 64 27 67 Chelsea 31 17 5 9 53 30 56 Arsenal 31 15 6 10 58 41 51 Burnley 32 13 10 9 31 28 49 Leicester 32 11 10 11 48 45 43 Everton 33 11 8 14 38 53 41 Newcastle 32 10 8 14 33 41 38 Bournemouth 33 9 11 13 41 53 38 Watford 33 10 7 16 42 59 37 Brighton 32 8 11 13 29 43 35 West Ham 31 8 9 14 39 57 33 Swansea 32 8 8 16 26 45 32 Huddersfield 33 8 8 17 26 54 32 Crystal Palace 33 7 10 16 33 52 31 Southampton 31 5 13 13 29 47 28 Stoke 33 6 9 18 30 63 27 West Brom 33 3 12 18 26 52 21
Tuesday 17 April
Brighton-Tottenham
Wednesday 18 April Thursday 19 April
Yesterday Friday Yesterday
PW D L F A Pts Wolves 41 27 8 6 74 36 89 Cardiff 40 24 8 8 62 34 80 Fulham 41 22 12 7 71 41 78 Aston Villa 41 21 10 10 65 40 73 Derby 40 18 14 8 60 38 68 M’boro 41 19 9 13 58 39 66 Millwall 41 17 14 10 52 39 65 Bristol City 41 16 14 11 56 47 62 Sheffield U. 41 18 8 15 55 48 62 Brentford 41 16 13 12 57 47 61 Preston 41 15 15 11 49 43 60 Norwich 41 14 13 14 45 51 55 Leeds 41 15 9 17 53 57 54 Ipswich 41 15 8 18 49 52 53 QPR 41 13 11 17 49 61 50 Sheffield W.y 41 11 14 16 48 55 47 Nottm Forest 40 13 7 20 43 58 46 Hull 41 10 14 17 59 61 44 Reading 41 10 12 19 46 60 42 Birmingham 41 11 7 23 31 58 40 Bolton 41 9 12 20 34 62 39 Barnsley 40 8 13 19 42 60 37 Sunderland 41 6 14 21 44 73 32 Burton Albion 41 7 11 23 30 72 32
League One
Yesterday