City given late scare at Watford but hold on to go five points clear

● Sané and Mahrez on target to maintain momentum for reigning champions

Despite a late fright at Watford, goals by Leroy Sané and Riyad Mahrez were enough to givereigningchampions Manchester City a 2-1 win at Vicarage Road last night which took them five points clear at the top of the table.

Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster had kept City at bay for most of the first half but with just five minutes to go before the break Sané found a way past him as he bundled home Mahrez’s cross with his chest.

Six minutes into the second half, City looked to have killed off the game when Mahrez knocked home Gabriel Jesus’ cross, but with Pep Guardiola’s men in almost complete control and looking capable of adding to their tally if they felt like it, they conceded an 85thminute goal when Abdoulaye Doucoure scrambled the ball home to set up a nervier than expected finish.

However, City held on and now wait to see if closest challengers Liverpool can reduce the gap again when they travel to Burnley tonight.

Elsewhere, Lucas Perez scored his first Premier League goals for West Ham

to fire them to a 3-1 victory over Cardiff.

The summer signing from Arsenal, on as a substitute for the injured Marko Arnautovic, found the net twice as the Hammers recorded backto-back top-flight wins for the first time in almost two years.

Cardiff, still without an away win this season, blew a golden 0 Ryan Fraser: On target for Bournemouth in 2-1 win.

chance to take the lead when Joe Ralls missed a firsthalf penalty. And Perez punished them after the break with a quickfire double before Michail Antonio also opened his Premier League account for the season.

A blistering start by Bournemouth saw them end their four-game Premier League losing streak with a 2-1 win over Huddersfield at the Vitality Stadium.

The Cherries had lost to Newcastle, Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City in recent weeks but goals in the opening 22 minutes from Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser got them back on track.

They did have to battle for the three points after that, though, as the Terriers came back strongly and made a game of it through Terence Kongolo’s header shortly before the break.

David Wagner’s men pushed for a leveller in the second half, but lacked a cutting edge, despite having 21 shots on goal, and slipped to a ninth defeat of the season.

With Liverpool next up, it was a big win for Bournemouth and it pushed them up to sixth in the table.

Brighton produced possibly their best display of the season to see off Crystal Palace 3-1 despite being reduced to 10 men after less than half an hour.

Just four minutes

after taking a 24th-minute lead through Glenn Murray’s penalty kick, defender Shane Duffy was sent off for aiming his head at Patrick van Aanholt after the hosts saw a second penalty appeal turned down.

Pascalgrosswasimmediately replaced by Leon Balogun in a bid to stiffen up Brighton’s defensive capabilities, but the substitute’s first touch turned out to be a terrific strike to double the lead.

With just seconds left in the first half, another substitute, Florin Andone, set off on a 40-yard run before finishing in style.

It took Palace until nine minutes from time to finally pull a goal back when Luka Milivojevic slotted home a penalty, but Brighton ran out worthy winners.

Chris Hughton’s team move into the top 10 but Roy Hodgson’s visitors remain only three points above the bottom three.