Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League table for the first time this year with a 2-1 victory over Fulham, Leeds were thrashed 4-1 at Bournemouth and there were wins for top-four chasers Manchester United and Newcastle over Aston Villa and Southampton respectively.
Fulham 1-2 Man City
Manchester City are top of the Premier League for the first time since February 17 thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Pep Guardiola’s men were pushed until the end by Fulham, who stuck doggedly with the in-form champions throughout the match.
Far more experienced top-flight sides might have crumbled when Erling Haaland netted his 50th goal of the season from the penalty spot after just three minutes.
However, Fulham managed to find a leveller a little over 10 minutes later through Carlos Vinicius, who has struggled for goals since he became a regular starter in the absence of the suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic.
It took a touch of class from Julian Alvarez to restored the visitors’ advantage in the first half, superbly curling home what proved to be the winner.
It was Fulham who looked most likely to score again as the game neared its conclusion, but City held on to move above Arsenal.
Bournemouth 4-1 Leeds
Leeds’ relegation fears increased after Jefferson Lerma’s double helped Bournemouth virtually secure their own safety with a vital 4-1 home win.
The Cherries moved level with Chelsea on 39 points and 10 clear of the bottom three after Lerma’s brace was backed up by second-half strikes from Dominic Solanke and Antoine Semenyo.
It all but confirms Bournemouth will be a Premier League club next season and continues Gary O’Neil’s excellent debut campaign in the managerial hotseat.
For Leeds it is a very different story with Patrick Bamford’s first-half goal a mere consolation for Javi Gracia’s side, who remain 16th but are outside of the relegation zone by one point and face Manchester City and Newcastle during the next fortnight.
Newcastle 3-1 Southampton
Callum Wilson came off the bench to score twice as Newcastle fought back to strengthen their claims on Champions League qualification and edge Southampton towards the trapdoor with a 3-1 win.
Left out of Eddie Howe’s starting line-up despite scoring twice at Everton on Thursday evening, the England striker produced the perfect response after his half-time introduction, cancelling out Stuart Armstrong’s first-half opener and then helping himself to a second after Theo Walcott’s own goal had given the Magpies the lead.
Wilson’s 14th and 15th goals of the season contributed to a fourth win of the campaign over the Saints and an eighth in nine Premier League outings, to keep Newcastle ahead of Manchester United in the race for the top four.
Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa
Bruno Fernandes’ strike strengthened Manchester United’s grip on Champions League qualification and ended Aston Villa’s 10-match unbeaten run.
Unai Emery has overseen an incredible turnaround since replacing Steven Gerrard and kicking off his Villa reign with an impressive win against the Red Devils in November.
But Fernandes’ first-half goal sealed United a 1-0 victory amid a backdrop of anti-Glazer protests on Sunday.
United had failed to win their last three Premier League matches against the Birmingham outfit and looked determined to halt that run as they flew out of the blocks at Old Trafford.
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