Late goal from Sterling puts City eight points clear of rivals

MANCHESTER City moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League yesterday after Raheem Sterling’s late goal clinched a 2-1 win at Huddersfield Town, while Alexis Sanchez gave Arsenal victory over Burnley.

City have swept aside all-comers this season, but they found themselves in the unusual position of trailing at half time after Nicolas Otamendi’s own goal.

Pep Guardiola’s side quickly equalised through a Sergio Aguero penalty in the second half before Sterling’s 84th-minute winner sealed their 11th successive league victory.

City’s gritty success reopened an eight-point advantage over second-placed Manchester United, who had temporarily closed the gap with a 1-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday.

At Turf Moor, Arsene Wenger’s side looked set for a frustrating draw as they entered stoppage-time, but they snatched the points when James Tarkowski was ruled to have pushed Aaron Ramsey.

Sanchez held his nerve to slot home the dramatic late penalty and moments later Arsenal were celebrating a 1-0 win that lifted them into fourth place in the Premier League.

Burnley boss Sean Dyche fumed: “There’s a lot of me that’s raging.

“It was highly unlikely it wasn’t going to get given on a day like today, that’s all I’ll say [about the penalty].”

At St Mary’s, Everton’s miserable season hit another low point as Southampton romped to a 4-1 win -giving caretaker boss David Unsworth a fifth defeat in his seven matches in charge following Ronald Koeman’s sacking.

Everton, linked with a move for Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill, are now just two points above the relegation zone.

“I cannot stand here and defend them, it was an unacceptable performance, the fans will be furious and so am I,” Unsworth said.

Having hit just nine goals in their previous 12 league games, Southampton took advantage of woeful Everton defending to win for the first time in four league matches.

In Saturday’s main game, Chelsea rode their luck to salvage a 1-1 draw at Liverpool thanks to Willian’s late lucky goal.

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea were five minutes away from suffering a major blow to their hopes of defending the title after falling behind to Mohamed Salah’s opener at Anfield, but grabbed a point thanks to Willian’s leveller. – AFP