City close in on Premier League title, Burnley relegated
MANCHESTER: Manchester City closed in on a fourth consecutive Premier League title by thrashing Fulham 4-0 on Saturday, while Burnley were relegated from the top flight after a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
Luton Town are also virtually down as a 3-1 defeat at West Ham United left them three points adrift of safety and with a goal difference 13 worse than that of Nottingham Forest with just one game remaining.
There was no twist in the title race at Craven Cottage as defender Josko Gvardiol continued his hot streak in front of goal.
The Croatian settled any City nerves by firing in on his weaker right foot after just 13 minutes.
Pep Guardiola’s men were dominant but had to wait until the hour mark to make the points safe when Phil Foden swept in his 25th goal of the season.
Gvardiol then turned in Bernardo Silva’s cross at the back post for his fifth City goal, all of which have come in his past seven games.
A 77 million ($96 million) signing from RB Leipzig last summer, Gvardiol could have become the first defender in Premier League history to score a hat-trick when City were awarded a penalty in stoppage time.However, he turned down the chance to take it, allowing Julian Alvarez to instead round off the scoring.
Victory takes City two points clear at the top of the table and ramps up the pressure on second-placed Arsenal ahead of their visit to Manchester United on Sunday.
Should the Gunners fail to win, City can wrap up the title when they travel to Tottenham on Tuesday.
“My players like to play with pressure, they are used to it. The players enjoy this feeling,” Guardiola said. “The destiny is in our hands.”
Meanwhile, Spurs kept their chances of Champions League football next season alive by coming from behind to send Burnley to the Championship.
Jacob Bruun Larsen had fired the Clarets into a shock lead after Sander Berge’s pass cut the Tottenham defence wide open.
Spurs had lost their last four matches, but they turned the game around to move within four points of fourth-placed Aston Villa.
Pedro Porro blasted an equaliser high past Arijanet Muric.
Micky Van de Ven then curled in the winner to at least guarantee Spurs will be in Europe next season.
Luton will also be back in the Championship next season after blowing a 1-0 lead and losing to West Ham in David Moyes’ final home game in charge of the Hammers.
Albert Sambi Lokonga’s early header gave the visitors hope of a great escape.
But second-half strikes from James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek and George Earthy all but ended Luton’s Premier League stay after a remarkable rise back through the leagues to get back to the top flight for the first time in 32 years.
With Luton set to join Burnley and Sheffield United in going down, all three promoted clubs will be relegated to expose to growing gulf between the top two divisions.Elsewhere, Newcastle missed the chance to tighten their grip on European qualification after being held 1-1 by Brighton and Hove Albion.
Sean Longstaff cancelled out Joel Veltman’s early opener for the Seagulls at St James’ Park.
But sixth-placed Newcastle edge just three points clear of Chelsea and Manchester United, who both have a game in hand.
In the day’s other fixtures, Crystal Palace’s stunning form since the arrival of Oliver Glasner as manager continued with a 3-1 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Michael Olise, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Eberechi Eze were on target for the Eagles, who climb up to 12th.
Abdoulaye Doucoure scored the only goal as Everton beat Sheffield United 1-0.
Yoane Wissa scored a 95th-minute winner for Brentford to snatch a 2-1 victory at Bournemouth.
Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2024