Man City closing in on league title

MANCHESTER City moved to within touching distance of a fifth Premier League title yesterday after bouncing back from a bitterly disappointing week to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 at Wembley.

Defeat for Spurs handed Chelsea a glimmer of hope in the fight for Champions League places after it came from 2-0 down to beat Southampton 3-2, but Liverpool strengthened its position in the top four as Mohamed Salah scored his 40th goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Bournemouth.

City blew the chance to seal the title by losing 3-2 at home to local rival Manchester United last weekend, and was then dumped out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage 5-1 on aggregate by Liverpool.

However, Pep Guardiola’s men showed why they have been compared with the alltime great teams of the Prem- ier League era by inflicting Spurs’ first league defeat since the sides last met at the Etihad in December.

City could even be confirmed as champion as early as today if United loses at home to West Brom.

“We’re almost there,” said Kevin de Bruyne, one of three City players nominated for PFA Player of the Year earlier yesterday alongside David Silva and Leroy Sane.

“We knew we had to win two of six games, so that’s not bad odds for us and now it is one of five. We just need to do our thing and hopefully we can finish it next weekend.”

City’s Champions League conquerors moved ever closer to sealing their place in the competition next season as Liverpool cruised past Bournemouth with Salah again taking centre stage.

Crystal Palace moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-2 win over Brighton.