The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dominant City too good for Red Devils
Champions Manchester City took the derby honours with a dominant 3-1 victory over rivals Manchester United.
City are now 12 points ahead of United in the table and the gulf in class between the two sides was huge at the Etihad Stadium.
David Silva opened the scoring inside 12 minutes as the league leaders made a blistering start.
United held out until half-time but Sergio Aguero struck just after the break to move level with former Red Devils striker Wayne Rooney on eight Premier League derby goals.
United, who were without Paul Pogba, responded through Anthony Martial after substitute Romelu Lukaku was brought down by City keeper Ederson.
Martial became only the seventh United player to score in five consecutive Premier League games when he slotted home the spot-kick in the 58th minute.
However, substitute Ilkay Gundogan wrapped up victory when he was left unmarked four minutes from time and stroked home City’s third from close range.
Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Fulham piled further pressure on Cottagers manager Slavisa Jokanovic.
This was bottom-placed Fulham’s seventh straight defeat in all competitions and the Londoners are now three points from safety.
Fulham’s pain was compounded by a 41st-minute marginal offside decision which ruled out Aleksandar Mitrovic’s effort with the score at 0-0.
To add insult to injury, Liverpool scored 12 seconds later through Mohamed Salah’s 34th goal in his last 36 home appearances.
Xherdan Shaqiri justified his return to the starting line-up with their second just after the break, leaving Liverpool two points off the top.
Chelsea are now four points behind City after being frustrated in a goalless draw with Everton.
Maurizio Sarri set a new record of 12 games unbeaten at the start of a management career in the Premier League, but the Italian was unable to celebrate victory as Everton held firm in a bad-tempered encounter.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford denied Marcos Alonso, Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard as Chelsea drew a league blank for only the second time this season.
Substitute Henrikh Mkhitaryan salvaged a point for Arsenal in a 1-1 home draw against Wolves.
Wolves looked set to end a three-game losing streak with a win thanks to Ivan Cavaleiro’s opener.
Cavaleiro pounced on Granit Xhaka’s 13th-minute mistake and Wolves had further chances through Helder Costa and Raul Jimenez.
However, the Armenia international rescued Arsenal four minutes from time when his cross evaded everyone and found its way into the net to extend Arsenal’s unbeaten run to 16 matches.
In Saturday’s action Cardiff and Newcastle claimed valuable victories.
Neil Warnock celebrated his 100th game as Cardiff manager with a 2-1 win over Brighton.
Bournemouth were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle at St James’ Park with Salomon Rondon netting twice for the Magpies.
There was plenty of emotion on show but no goals at the King Power Stadium as Leicester paid tribute to late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha ahead of a goalless draw with Burnley.
Tottenham again produced a gritty away performance, with Juan Foyth’s 66th-minute goal the difference in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.