West Ham continue charge with Spurs win, City make it 18 on the hop
West Ham United claimed fourth spot in the Premier League as goals early in each half by Michail Antonio and Jesse Lingard earned them a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Meanwhile at Villa Park, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes scored quick-fire first-half goals as Leicester City notched up a 2-1 win away to Aston Villa and Manchester City made it 18 straight wins in all competitions with a routine 1-0 win over Arsenal.
West Ham’s Jesse Lingard scores his side’s second goal against Tottenham at the London Stadium on Sunday.Credit:AP
West Ham’s seventh win in their last nine league games moved them two points above Chelsea in their mounting challenge for a Champions League spot.
Antonio gave West Ham the perfect start when he fired past Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris in the fifth minute.
When Lingard doubled West Ham’s lead in the 47th minute with a goal initially disallowed for offside but awarded after a VAR check it looked like a comfortable win for David Moyes’ side.
But Lucas Moura’s header gave Tottenham a lifeline and they pressed hard for an equaliser with substitute Gareth Bale lashing a shot against the crossbar.
Raheem Sterling scores for Manchester City just 80 seconds into the match against Arsenal.Credit:Getty
West Ham had another lucky escape in stoppage time as a Vladimir Coufal clearance deflected back off Son Heung-min and struck the post.
Tottenham had 19 goal attempts to the four of West Ham but were unable to prevent a fifth defeat in six league games.
City do it easy against Gunners
In what has become a stroll to the expected Premier League title, Manchester City are still finding ways of producing the unexpected.
Raheem Sterling is scoring from headers.
He took only 80 seconds to meet Riyad Mahrez’s cross at Arsenal to clinch a 1-0 victory.
“I’m 5 foot 7 and a half,” Sterling said, “and every time I score a headed goal, it’s an extra buzz.”
His last two goals — in a season tally that has reached 13 — have come from his head after helping City to a victory at Liverpool two weeks ago.
And they are helping City dethrone Liverpool as champions and regain the trophy won in 2018 and 2019. When City beat Arsenal in the reverse fixture in October — provided by Sterling’s foot — Pep Guardiola’s side was in ninth place.
Now, with 13 games to go, City have a 10-point lead over Leicester after wining an 18th successive game in all competitions.
“We had a difficult start to the season, something we’re not used to,” Sterling said. “It’s a credit to the team, we started to dig results out. We need to keep our focus and move on to the next one.”
The next one is a Champions League game at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Wednesday with the start of the knockout phase as City looks to lift the European Cup for the first time.
Although the scoreline at the Emirates Stadium was slender and City was not a constant threat for Arsenal, the 10th-placed hosts could find no way past the central defensive duo of John Stones and Ruben Dias.
“It was harder than we expected it to be,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “We adjusted our pressing in the second half. We didn’t create chances, but (we did) enough to win the game.
Leicester’s James Maddison score his side’s first goal against Villa on Sunday.Credit:AP
Leicester too good for Villa
Villa suffered a blow before kickoff against Leicester when playmaker and captain Jack Grealish was ruled out with a leg injury, and Leicester were quick to exploit his absence.
With England manager Gareth Southgate watching from the stands, Maddison put Leicester into the lead in the 19th minute, picking up a pass from Barnes before curling a low, bouncing shot into the bottom corner.
Barnes made it 2-0 four minutes later, reacting quickest to lash a rebound from a Jamie Vardy shot high into the net.
“We knew they’d be up for it, so we knew we’d have to start fast. It was part of our game plan. We knew if we’d get shots in and around the box we’d have a chance,” Barnes told Sky Sports. “I’ve added goals to my game and I’m really happy with that. It’s down to confidence.”
Villa struck back three minutes into the second half as Matt Targett’s cross was helped on by John McGinn. Bertrand Traore was on hand to drill the ball into the net.
Maddison left the field with what looked to be a hip injury in the 64th minute, but Leicester continued to create chances. Vardy was unlucky not to score with a shot that flew across the face of the goal and wide.
Without Grealish, Villa had little to offer in attack as the visitors held on comfortably to win.
AP/Reuters