Erling Haaland continues scoring streak as Manchester City close gap on Arsenal

The Norwegian netted two goals, as Man City beat Leicester 3-1

Erling Haaland scored twice as Manchester City increased the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a 3-1 win over Leicester.

The prolific Norwegian’s double saw him level with the competition’s record of 32 goals for a 38-game season.

Haaland’s brace came after a superb early strike from John Stones and all but wrapped up a victory for City that cut the Gunners’ lead at the top to three points inside 25 minutes.

Former City striker Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back and later hit a post as relegation-threatened Leicester finished strongly under new boss Dean Smith.

Ollie Watkins starred in front of England manager Gareth Southgate as Aston Villa bolstered their European ambitions with a 3-0 home victory over Champions League-chasing Newcastle.

Watkins took his tally to 11 goals in 12 games with a second-half double that built on Jacob Ramsey’s early opener.

Unai Emery’s Villa are now looking a good bet for a top-six finish after winning seven of their last eight games.

For Newcastle, who stay third, it was a day to forget as a run of five successive wins came to an end with a thud.

Tottenham’s hopes of a top-four finish were also dented as Bournemouth’s Dango Ouattarra scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win for the Cherries.

Son Heung-min put Spurs ahead after 14 minutes but relegation-threatened Bournemouth led after Matias Vina and Dominic Solanke struck either side of half-time.

Spurs set up a grandstand finish when Arnaut Danjuma scored against his former club two minutes from time, but Ouattarra had the final word with his first Cherries goal.

Brighton remain in the hunt for a Champions League place after a 2-1 success at Chelsea piled on the misery for Frank Lampard.

Chelsea, in Lampard’s first home match since being reappointed Blues manager, took a 13th-minute lead through Conor Gallagher’s deflected strike.

But Brighton levelled through substitute Danny Welbeck before Paraguayan forward Julio Enciso struck a sensational 35-yard winner after 69 minutes.

Lampard has now lost all three matches since his shock return to Stamford Bridge earlier this month.

Fulham dealt a blow to Everton’s survival prospects with a 3-1 victory at Goodison Park.

Harrison Reed’s composed finish put the visitors ahead after 22 minutes but Dwight McNeil levelled before the break.

Everton were eventually sunk by a Welsh one-two as Harry Wilson, the former Liverpool winger, and Daniel James ended a run of five defeats in all competitions for the Cottagers.

Wolves boosted their bid to avoid the drop with a 2-0 defeat of Brentford at Molineux.

Diego Costa claimed his first goal for Wolves after 27 minutes and Hwang Hee-chan doubled the lead in the final quarter.

Wolves are now seven points clear of the relegation zone, while Brentford’s hopes of European football are fading fast after three successive defeats.

Crystal Palace’s renaissance under Roy Hodgson continued with a 2-0 win at Southampton.

Eberechi Eze scored twice in the second half to hand Hodgson a third straight win since the veteran boss succeeded Patrick Vieira.

Palace are now nine points clear of trouble, while Southampton remain four points from safety and appear increasingly likely to be playing in the Championship next season.

Published: 16/04/2023 by Radio NewsHub