LONDON, April 4 (Xinhua) — Manchester City showed their strength in depth as they continued their victory parade to the Premier League title with a 2-0 win away to third place Leicester City on Saturday.
The late arrival of players from the international break coupled with the fact Pep Guardiola’s side play in the Champions League next week had led some commentators to speculate that City could suffer a rare defeat to Leicester, but they were to be proved wrong as the Champions elect showed their dominance.
Although it was goalless at halftime, Benjamin Mendy’s persistence saw him flash home a right-foot shot to complete a move he had started, before Kevin de Bruyne teed up Gabriel Jesus for the second with a magnificent pass to split the Leicester defense.
Manchester United came back from a goal down to beat Brighton 2-1 thanks to second-half goals from Marcos Rashford and Mason Greenwood.
Former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck put Brighton in front from close range after 13 minutes, but Rashford equalized in the 62nd minute after a pass from Bruno Fernandes.
Mason Greenwood won the game in the 82nd minute after he stooped to nod home Paul Pogba’s mishit shot at the far post.
Chelsea was affected by the international break and also by a 29th-minute red card for defender Thiago Silva, who was sent off just two minutes after Christian Pulisic had put his side in front against West Brom, who traveled to Stamford Bridge with just 20 league goals all season.
The rest of the game was a reminder that football still has the capacity to produce surprises as Matheus Pereira turned the score around in first-half injury time.
Further goals from Callum Robinson and Mbaye Diagne in the second half made it 4-1 for West Brom and although Mason Mount pulled a goal back for Chelsea there was still time for Robinson to add a fifth for West Brom in injury time.
Diogo Jota scored twice as Liverpool warmed up for next week’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid with a 3-0 win away to Arsenal.
The Portuguese forward had only been on the pitch for three minutes before heading home a perfect cross from Trent Alexander Arnold and Mohamed Salah doubled the lead seven minutes later after being set through on goal following an error from Gabriel.
Jota then added a third to seal an emphatic win with eight minutes left to play, with Fabinho’s return also good news for Liverpool.
Joe Wilcock’s 85th-minute goal earned Newcastle a vital point at home to Tottenham in a game that had plenty of alternatives.
A rare Joelinton goal gave Newcastle a deserved lead after 28 minutes only for two goals from Harry Kane after 30 and 34 minutes to leave Newcastle looking groggy. Kane hit the outside of the post in the closing minutes and that was a big let-off for Steve Bruce’s strugglers as Wlicock’s goal went in off the underside of the bar two minutes later.
That turned out to be a good point for Newcastle as Aston Villa scored three goals in the last 12 minutes to beat Fulham 3-1.
Fulham had looked on track to draw level on points with Bruce’s side after Aleksandar Mitrovic’s 61st-minute opener after an error from Tyrone Mings, but two goals from substitute Trezeguet and one from Ollie Watkins saw Villa turn the score around in express fashion.
Southampton’s 3-2 win at home to Burnley also saw plenty of drama as the home side came back from 2-0 down to claim just their second league win in 13 games.
Chris Wood’s penalty and a goal from Matej Vydra put Burnley on the road to victory, but Danny Ings inspired the home side’s fightback, setting up Stuart Armstrong to get Southampton back into the game.
Ings then netted an individual goal against his former club in the 42nd minute and had a hand before Nathan Redmond’s sweetly struck winning volley with just under half an hour remaining.
Leeds United won the Yorkshire derby 2-1 at home to Sheffield United thanks to a 49th-minute own goal from Phil Jagielka after Ben Osborn’s goal in first-half injury time canceled out Jack Harrison’s opener for Leeds.
