EPL: Man City claim top spot with Saints win, Villa up to third despite draw

Brentford clawed backmost a two-goal shortage to bushed 10-man Ipswich Town 4-3 and Wolverhampton Wanderers escaped Brighton & Hove Albion with a 2-2 gully acknowledgment to a stoppage-time equaliser.

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored an aboriginal extremity to springiness the champions a two-point cushion implicit Liverpool, who are 2nd and sojourn fourth-placed Arsenal connected Sunday.

“I volition ticker (Sunday’s game),” said City manager Pep Guardiola. “I similar to beryllium connected apical than not beryllium connected top, but it’s not the point. Just look what happened today, Villa dropped points and Brighton dropped points due to the fact that it’s truthful difficult.”

While Haaland scored a stunner successful Wednesday’s 5-0 Champions League thrashing of Sparta Prague, helium had gone 3 Premier League games without a extremity earlier ending that mini-drought successful the 5th infinitesimal connected Saturday.

Wrestling with defender Jan Bednarek, the 24-year-old Norwegian, a maestro of scoring from choky angles, stabbed the shot into the extortion of the nett with a toed portion falling.

Unai Emery’s Villa climbed to 3rd spot, 5 points disconnected the pace, and stretched their unbeaten tally to 11 games successful each competitions, though a precocious Evanilson header for Bournemouth cancelled retired Ross Barkley’s opener for the ascendant hosts.

Villa peppered Bournemouth’s extremity from the start, squandering respective chances earlier second-half substitute Barkley hooked the shot location from adjacent scope successful the 76th infinitesimal from a Leon Bailey knock-down.

Bournemouth went searching for a leveller successful stoppage clip and struck successful the 96th infinitesimal erstwhile Brazilian guardant Evanilson mislaid his marker and glanced Marcus Tavernier’s superb free-kick past goalkeeper Emi Martinez.

“We deserved to win, we dominated,” Emery said. “They scored successful the past infinitesimal and we person to judge it. But we were fantastic again, truly I’m precise happy.”

LATE EQUALISER

Wolves’ Matheus Cunha netted a superb stoppage-time equaliser astatine Brighton arsenic they came from 2 goals down to drawback a constituent that lifts them disconnected the bottommost of the table.

The Seagulls dominated the archetypal fractional but it took until the 45th infinitesimal for the location broadside to interruption the deadlock with a slick decorativeness from Danny Welbeck.

The crippled looked implicit erstwhile Brighton substitute Evan Ferguson turned and changeable into the bottom-left country successful the 86th.

But Wanderers’ Rayan Ait-Nouri lashed location a escaped shot aft a country 2 minutes aboriginal to acceptable up a grandstand finish, with Cunha rattling the shot into the nett successful the 3rd infinitesimal of stoppage clip for a astir improbable draw.

The constituent – lone the 2nd of the play for Wolves – takes them up a spot to 19th, 1 up of Southampton.

Wolves brag Gary O’Neil said: “I’m delighted for the players and the fans truly due to the fact that … the players person fixed truthful much, and I cognize it cannot ever look that mode due to the fact that results tin unreality things, but they’ve fixed an atrocious lot, and if you support doing that, it can’t proceed to spell against you.”

Bryan Mbeumo’s treble helped Brentford to their 4-3 comeback triumph implicit Ipswich Town that kept up their red-hot location form.

Promoted Ipswich looked headed for their archetypal triumph of the play aft going 2-0 up done Sam Szmodics and George Hirst.

But Yoane Wissa’s onslaught and a Harry Clarke ain extremity brought the scores level by halftime and the Bees past led done Mbeumo’s second-half punishment conceded by defender Clarke.

Ipswich were reduced to 10 men erstwhile Clarke was sent disconnected successful the 69th but they managed to equalise acknowledgment to substitute Liam Delap’s 86th infinitesimal goal, lone for Mbeumo to triumph the crippled for the location broadside successful added clip with a long-range effort.

Everton were hosting Fulham successful Saturday’s precocious game, portion determination are 4 games scheduled for Sunday.