Determined Bournemouth make City work hard for their victory
RELENTLESS Manchester City made it six Premier League wins in a row with a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth yesterday, moving them five points clear of second-placed Liverpool at the top of the table.
With Liverpool not in action until their Merseyside derby with Everton today, City were made to work unusually hard for their victory by a dogged and determined Bournemouth side.
Bernardo Silva broke the deadlock to get City up and running in the 16th minute but the reigning champions took their foot off the gas after that early opener, with Callum Wilson levelling things up one minute before halftime.
That equaliser jolted City into life. They came out for the second half with added impetus and were soon back in front through Raheem Sterling.
City then turned on the style to complete the victory, with David Silva and Leroy Sane combining to create an easy chance for Ilkay Gundogan to finish.
A fourth consecutive league defeat for Bournemouth sees them drop to ninth. Striker Javier Hernandez made the most of a rare start for West Ham by scoring two clinical goals which helped the east London side to a 3-0 win at Newcastle.
West Ham’s fast breaks had toothless Newcastle reeling all afternoon and livewire Mexico international Hernandez fired them ahead in the 11th minute with a sweeping closerange finish after a fine cross by Robert Snodgrass.
Hernandez and strike partner Marko Arnautovic continued to torment their markers after the break and the Mexican missed a pair of giltedged chances before they combined to devastating effect for the second goal in the 63rd.
Arnautovic superbly headed down a lofted West Ham clearance from their own half into Hernandez’s stride and the 30-year old made no mistake as he drove the ball past goalkeeper Martin Dubravka inside the near post.
Newcastle threw men forward in the closing stages but failed to create any chances and were caught cold again in stoppage time when Brazilian Felipe Anderson found time and space in the penalty area to bury his shot through Dubravka’s legs.
Leicester gave their fans some timely festive cheer by securing their first League win at the King Power Stadium since September with a 2-0 victory over 10-man Watford.
Jamie Vardy opened the scoring with a penalty after 12 minutes, after being brought down by Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster when running on to a through ball. The home side doubled the lead 11 minutes later after a quick counter-attack ended with James Maddison excellently controlling a crossfield pass from Marc Albrighton on his knee before volleying into the bottom corner. Watford struggled to contain Leicester’s pacey attack and had Etienne Capoue sent off late on for a reckless challenge on Kelechi Iheanacho.
The result meant Leicester moved up to seventh, briefly ahead of Manchester United, who were playing later yesterday, on goal difference.
Watford slipped down to 10th, and have now not won in the league since October.
A pair of headers from Shane Duffy and Florin Andone helped visitors Brighton & Hove Albion to bounce back from a goal down to beat 10-man Huddersfield Town 2-1.
Danish defender Mathias “Zanka” Jorgensen gave the home side the perfect start with a looping header in the opening minute as Huddersfield looked set to continue the run of form that had secured them seven points in their last three games.
However, a straight red card for Steve Mounie for a careless high challenge on Yves Bissouma turned the tide in favour of the visitors.
The win lifts Chris Hughton’s side to 11th place in the table on 18, while Wagner’s Huddersfield are once again hovering above the drop zone in 17th place on 10 points. | Reuters United (late kick-off)