Aguero’s leveller for City keeps Liverpool at bay
SERGIO Aguero netted a 69thminute equaliser in a gripping 1-1 draw with Liverpool yesterday to prevent Manchester City losing ground in the battle for a top-four Premier League finish.
Liverpool looked poised to leapfrog City into third place after James Milner silenced the boos from fans of his former club to give the visitors the lead with a penalty early in the second half.
But Aguero’s strike kept City a point above their rivals, who have played a game more, and provided a moment of solace after their mid-week Champions League elimination at Monaco’s hands.
Both sides had chances to win the game in a breathless finale, Kevin de Bruyne hitting a post for City and Adam Lallana horribly miscuing with only the goalkeeper to beat.
While Jurgen Klopp failed to become the first manager to do a league double over Pep Guardiola, his Liverpool team are now unbeaten in 10 games against their fellow top-six sides this season.
Jose Mourinho praised Manchester United’s refusal to let fatigue get the better of them as they kept their top-four bid on course with a 3-1 victory at Middlesbrough.
Having lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup on Monday and beaten Rostov in the Europa League on Thursday, Mourinho had predicted his team might struggle against a Middlesbrough team fighting to avoid relegation.
United were also without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but goals from Marouane Fellaini, Jesse Lingard and Antonio Valencia sealed a victory, which left Mourinho delighted.
“I applaud our attitude and desire and our way of thinking,” Mourinho said.
Tottenham overcame the absence of leading scorer Harry Kane to beat Southampton 2-1 and close the gap on leaders Chelsea.
First-half goals from Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli at White Hart Lane gave Mauricio Pochettino’s side the cushion they needed to hold onto victory after James Ward-Prowse halved the deficit early in the second half.
With 10 games remaining, the chances of overhauling Chelsea’s 10-point lead are slim, but victory strengthened Spurs’ position in the race to guarantee a top-four finish by extending the gap to fifth place to seven points.
Southampton are well clear of the relegation places and their remaining aim this season is to maintain their top-10 standing. – AFP