Leicester keep up pursuit of Liverpool
Leicester City set a club record of eight successive top-flight wins after two goals from Jamie Vardy helped them to an impressive 4-1 Premier League victory at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Kelechi Iheanacho and Jonny Evans were also on target for Leicester, who served up a performance akin to those which produced a memorable title run in 2015/2016.
The result left the Foxes second in the standings on 38 points from 16 games, eight adrift of runaway leaders Liverpool and six ahead of third-placed champions Manchester City, while Villa slipped to 17th on 15 points.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers heaped praise on his players. “I thought they were amazing. It is a historical day for the club and the performance warranted that,” he said.
“We scored all types of goals today and kept going to the end and tried to keep scoring goals.”
In another Sunday game, defender Federico Fernandez smashed home a rebound two minutes from time as goal-shy Newcastle United came back from a goal down to beat visitors Southampton 2-1 in their Premier League clash.
Sheffield United wing backs Enda Stevens and George Baldock scored in three secondhalf minutes as the Blades came from behind to defeat a spirited Norwich City 2-1.
Victory meant that Chris Wilder’s team, eighth in the standings on 22 points, have avoided defeat in their opening eight away games of the campaign.
On Saturday, Liverpool took a huge step towards their first title since 1990 when their 3-0 win at Bournemouth combined with Manchester United’s 2-1 victory at Manchester City to leave the champions 14 points adrift of the Premier League leaders.
Juergen Klopp’s side are quoted as odds-on to secure the silverware that has eluded them for so long.
On a dramatic league day on Saturday, individual honours went to Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min, who dribbled almost the length of the pitch to score in his side’s 5-0 rout of Burnley, and Everton caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson, who inspired a 3-1 win over Chelsea in his first game in charge.
MANCHESTER DERBY
Manchester United, who beat Spurs in midweek, blew Manchester City away with a dazzling first-half performance, which was capped by a VAR-awarded Marcus Rashford penalty and a strike from Anthony Martial.
Though David De Gea had to be at his sharpest to keep City at bay after the interval, when City scored through Nicolas Otamendi, United were well worth their victory, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first as player or manager in a Manchester derby.
“We’ll remember this one. We look so dangerous when we get the ball and go forward against arguably the best team in the world,” said Solskjaer.
Guardiola, whose team have dominated the Premier League with back-to-back title wins, was reluctant to talk about their position in the league.
At Goodison Park, Everton looked nothing like the side that had subsided so abjectly at Liverpool, re-energised by the fiery presence of Ferguson in place of Marco Silva in the dressing room.
The Scot’s decision to switch formation was rewarded with a goal for Richarlison before Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a double.
FOXES SET A CLUB RECORD OF EIGHT SUCCESSIVE WINS IN THE TOP FLIGHT AS VARDY BAGS ANOTHER BRACE