Times of Eswatini

City close gap on Gunners

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C. Palace ............... 0

Man City .............. 1

LONDON - Manchester City needed a second-half penalty from striker Erling Haaland to break the resistance of a dogged Crystal Palace and secure a 1-0 win at Selhurst Park in the Premier League yesterday.

The win moved City to 61 points after 27 games, two behind leaders Arsenal, who play Fulham today, and 12 ahead of third-placed Manchester United. City had a hard time breaking The Cottagers down.

In a sign of frustratio­n, Haaland smashed a shot from a very tight angle goalwards just before the half-hour mark and then blasted the rebound wide as his side dominated possession.

City were presented with an excellent chance early in the second half when Jack Grealish was fouled on the edge of the box, but Guaita pulled off a tremendous diving save to keep out Phil Foden’s free kick.

City’s breakthrou­gh finally came when captain Ilkay Gundogan was upended in the box following a clumsy late challenge by Michael Olise.

Undeterred by his long spells without the ball, Haaland stepped up and smashed home the spot kick low to the keeper’s left in the 78th minute for his 28th league goal of the season and his 34th in all competitio­ns.

With Palace failing to register a shot on target for the third Premier League game in a row, City held on to win comfortabl­y.

Elsewhere, Liverpool’s resurgence proved short-lived after a 1-0 defeat at Bournemout­h as Tottenham took advantage in the race for a top-four finish by beating Nottingham Forest 3-1. Jurgen Klopp’s men inflicted a historic 7-0 thrashing on Manchester United last weekend to equal the Red Devils record defeat.

But Liverpool suffered another setback in a frustratin­g season as Mohamed Salah fired a second half penalty wide. Philip Billing scored the only goal on 28 minutes as Bournemout­h’s first home win since November lifted the Cherries out of the bottom three.

Fifth-placed Liverpool are now six points adrift of the Champions League places after Harry Kane ensured a tough week for Spurs ended on a high.

The England captain’s future has been a source of speculatio­n after Tottenham crashed out of both the FA Cup and Champions League in the space a week. Antonio Conte’s men had failed to score in their previous three games, but Kane ended that drought by rising highest to head in Pedro Porro’s cross.

 ?? (Pic: Dailymail) ?? The BBC’s Match of the Day is in crisis with no presenters, pundits or commentato­rs for the first time in its 59-year history after the corporatio­n took Gary Lineker off air. Lineker, 62, will not present the nation’s flagship football show after the BBC decided his tweet comparing the Home Office’s immigratio­n policy to Nazi Germany breached impartiali­ty rules. But he has been roundly supported by colleagues, with cohosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer staging a walkout in solidarity - forcing the BBC to streamline the show.
(Pic: Dailymail) The BBC’s Match of the Day is in crisis with no presenters, pundits or commentato­rs for the first time in its 59-year history after the corporatio­n took Gary Lineker off air. Lineker, 62, will not present the nation’s flagship football show after the BBC decided his tweet comparing the Home Office’s immigratio­n policy to Nazi Germany breached impartiali­ty rules. But he has been roundly supported by colleagues, with cohosts Ian Wright and Alan Shearer staging a walkout in solidarity - forcing the BBC to streamline the show.

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