Author: Soorya G
Manchester City – West Ham – 3:0
Erling Haaland made Premier League history by scoring his 35th goal of the season, breaking the long-standing record of iconic duo Alan Shearer and Andy Cole, who scored 34 goals each in 42 Premier League games. Haaland still has five more games to play this season and, in his current form, surpassing the 40-goal mark wouldn’t be a huge surprise. The Norwegian scored his record goal against the same team where he scored his first goal, rewriting the history books with an audacious finish over West Ham’s veteran goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. Haaland scored the second of Manchester City’s three goals as the league leaders refused to lower the intensity after establishing a decisive lead at the top of the Premier League standings.
At the Etihad Stadium, David Moyes’ side managed to make things challenging for the title contenders. Neither team had scored by half-time. But before Haaland had his moment in the sun, Dutch midfielder Nathan Ake headed City in front early in the second half. When Phil Foden, who came on as a substitute, scored the third goal late in the game, the victory became even more convincing.
Pep Guardiola’s side were reminded by Arsenal’s win over Chelsea the night before that there was no room for slacking off in their quest for the Premier League title. The Cityzens are hopeful that this will serve as the start of a historically significant treble for the club, as they are also chasing the Champions League, having reached yet another semi-final under the Spanish mentor.
Considering what had happened previously, the breakthrough came at the start of the second half and was incredibly simple in comparison. Coach David Moyes was visibly annoyed with his team’s performance after fighting extremely well in the first half, despite having a seemingly depleted squad. Declan Rice, Thomas Soucek, Aguerd and Zouma all missed out when Jack Grealish was fouled by Flynn Downes in the second half. Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez delivered a pinpoint cross, which was duly headed in by Nathan Ake to give City the lead.
Stefan Ortega, making his Premier League debut, was momentarily put under pressure by West Ham, who threatened his goal from set-piece opportunities. However, Haaland took his chance on the counter-attack. Jack Grealish passed to Haaland, who converted to seal a magnificent victory. Foden’s goal twenty minutes from time was the icing on the cake as City maintained their lead.
Liverpool – Fulham – 1:0
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=3840&quality=60){kind=spacer}
With a controversial 1-0 win over Fulham, Liverpool kept their slim chances of a Champions League place alive and moved to within four points of fourth-placed Manchester United. After Issa Diop intentionally brought down Darwin Nunez in the box, Mohamed Salah scored the winning penalty for Liverpool, his 17th Premier League goal of the season. The penalty was awarded by referee Stuart Atwell, a decision that Fulham coach Marco Silva called “embarrassing”.
Decordova-Reid had a good chance, but shot over. The substitute had what was easily Fulham’s best chance of the game, but was unable to convert and snatch a point for his team in injury time.