Both Manchester clubs notch conquests
Aguero hat-trick fires City over Arsenal • United edges Leicester on Rashford winner
Sergio Aguero’s hat-trick led Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday and back into second place in the Premier League, two points behind table-leading Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford celebrated his 100th Premier League appearance on Sunday with a fine goal to secure a 1-0 win over Leicester City that kept interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s dream start going.
City’s victory put the pressure on Liverpool ahead off the Reds’ trip to West Ham United on Monday. Juergen Klopp’s side has 61 points with reigning-champion City on 59 and Tottenham Hotspur on 57.
City was utterly dominant after going in 2-1 up at the break, keeping Gunners ’keeper Bernd Leno busy as it peppered his goal with shots from distance while the Londoners, looking bereft of self-belief, did not manage a shot on target in the second half.
Pep Guardiola’s side needed a positive response after Tuesday’s surprise defeat at Newcastle United and within a minute any nerves among the home crowd vanished.
It took 48 seconds for Aguero to open the scoring with a stooping header after Aymeric Laporte had robbed a far-too casual Alex Iwobi and whipped in a cross.
City was dominant, but the Gunners got back on level terms in the 11th minute when Nacho Monreal flicked on a Lucas Torreira corner and defender Laurent Koscielny headed in from two yards out.
But with Kevin De Bruyne beginning to put his injury troubles behind him and looking like his true self in midfield and Bernardo Silva teasing Arsenal from the right flank, City looked unperturbed by the equalizer.
It was no surprise when Aguero struck again just before the break, tapping in a low cross from Raheem Sterling, who had combined well with Ilkay Gundogan in the build-up.
City’s record scorer wrapped up the win with Sterling again the provider, but as Aguero slid in to meet his low cross, the ball appeared to go in off his arm – a fact the player conceded after seeing the television replay.
“I thought it was the chest, but now that I’ve seen it on the TV, I think it was a handball,” he said.
“I’m very happy, it is important to score and win… It’s important to fight every game. Now we have to think about Everton (on Wednesday) because it will be so difficult,” he added.
It was Aguero’s 10th hat-trick in the Premier League, a record bettered only by Alan Shearer who scored 11. The Argentine striker has netted 20 goals in all competitions this season – the sixth straight campaign he has reached that tally.
At Leicester, having missed a simple header early on, 21-year-old Rashford compensated in the ninth minute, skillfully latching on to a lovely dink from Paul Pogba over the host’s defense to smash the ball past Kasper Schmeichel from close range.
“It was a great finish. The kid has improved and improved,” said a delighted Solskjaer, who has enjoyed nine wins and a draw in all competitions since taking over as caretaker manager from the sacked Jose Mourinho in December.
Rashford is the youngest player to reach a century of top-flight appearances for the Red Devils since Ryan Giggs in 1993.
Struggling under Mourinho, he and Pogba have been in superb form since the moment former Manchester United favorite Solskjaer walked in. Yet Sunday’s win lacked the fluency and joie de vivre of other performances.
Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez was disappointing again, looking miserable when substituted in the second half.
“They won’t be too happy. They know they can do better,” Solskjaer said of his team, smiling at the win even so.
The victory moved United on to 48 points, two adrift of Chelsea in fourth place. Solskjaer’s men have dropped points only once under him – a 2-2 draw with Burnley on Tuesday – and are now firmly aiming for the top-four spot that would give them Champions League soccer next season.
Inconsistent Leicester stayed 11th on 32 points after losing its third home game in a row.
Leicester manager Claude Puel was disappointed with his whole team – not only the poor clearance from Ricardo Pereira that led to Rashford’s goal.
“It was not just the fault of the player, it was the fault of the team that did not play well,” he said, criticizing his team for playing too many sideways and backwards passes.
“We hesitated to put this team under pressure... It’s a big shame and a big disappointment.”
Though comfortably mid-table, fans – who enjoyed an astonishing Premier League title in the 2015/16 season – were notably disgruntled on Sunday.
Some booed and chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” at Puel’s second half substitution of midfielder James Maddison.