The Malta Independent on Sunday
Man City held by Palace as Arsenal, Spurs drop points
Fernandinho’s own-goal in the 90th minute saw Manchester City draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace yesterday, bringing English Premier League leader Liverpool even closer to the title.
City’s draw means Liverpool can extend its lead to an almost insurmountable 16 points by beating Manchester United on Sunday.
AGUERO NOT ENOUGH
Not even Sergio Aguero’s fearsome goalscoring form could earn City a win over a tenacious Crystal Palace team.
With City staring at a possible defeat courtesy of Cenk Tosun’s 39th-minute goal for Palace, Aguero scored twice in the last 10 minutes, taking him to six goals from his last three EPL games. However, Palace wasn’t done and levelled in the 90th when Wilfried Zaha’s ball went in off Fernandinho.
FLECK PEGS BACK ARSENAL
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suspended, Arsenal lacked the firepower to see off Sheffield United in a 1-1 draw.
John Fleck salvaged a draw for Sheffield with a bouncing shot in the 83rd after two 18-year-olds had combined for Arsenal’s opening goal. Gabriel Martinelli was the scorer, knocking the ball in from close range after fellow youngster Bukayo Saka’s cross was deflected and looped over the Sheffield defence.
SPURS FRUSTRATED
Dele Alli was left fuming in the Tottenham dugout as last season’s Champions League finalist slipped further away from qualifying for next season’s competition with a 0-0 draw at Watford.
A penalty save by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga kept Tottenham in the game before a goal-line clearance from Watford’s Ignacio Pussetto stopped Tottenham sneaking a win in stoppage time.
Jose Mourinho’s team last won in the league against Brighton on Dec. 26.
Tottenham has not scored in 277 minutes of league action and again struggled to create and finish chances, with top scorer Harry Kane out until April with injury.
WOLVES HUNGRY
Wolverhampton showed plenty of hunger to win, coming back from 2-0 down to beat Southampton 3-2.
Pedro Neto got Wolves going with a goal in the 53rd before Raul Jimenez powered the team to victory with two goals, the first of those from the penalty spot after a long VAR wait.
CASEMIRO SCORES 2 AS REAL MADRID BEAT SEVILLA
Midfielder Casemiro scored a brace to give Real Madrid a 2-1 home win over Sevilla in the Spanish league yesterday.
The victory lifted Madrid into the lead and three points ahead of second-place Barcelona before the defending champions host Granada today. Barcelona holds the tiebreaker with Madrid on goal difference.
Casemiro broke the deadlock with the first of his two goals in the 57th minute when he was set up by Luka Jovic.
Sevilla striker Luuk de Jong, who had a goal ruled out by a video review in the first half, levelled in the 64th before Casemiro headed the hosts back in front five minutes later.
IMMOBILE TREBLE HELPS LAZIO CRUSH SAMP 5 1
Ciro Immobile scored a hat trick yesterday to help Lazio crush Sampdoria 5-1 as Simone Inzaghi’s side continued to look like a genuine title contender.
It was a record-extending 11th successive Serie A win for Lazio and saw the team close within three points of leader Juventus, and one behind second-placed Inter Milan.
The other goals were scored by Caicedo and Bastos. Samp’s consolation goal was netted by Linetty .
HAALAND, 19, SCORES HAT TRICK ON DREAM DEBUT FOR DORTMUND
Norwegian teenager Erling Haaland scored a second-half hat trick on a dream Bundesliga debut to help Borussia Dortmund come from two goals down and win 5-3 at Augsburg yesterday.
The 19-year-old Haaland, who came on in the 56th minute after Florian Niederlechner had put the home side 3-1 up, needed just three minutes to grab his first goal, and 23 in all to complete his treble.
Haaland, who joined from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg during the winter break, became the first player since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score three times on his Bundesliga debut – also in Augsburg for Dortmund.