CNN
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Manchester Metropolis licked the injuries of its heartbreaking Champions League exit by taking a step in direction of the Premier League title with a dominant 5-0 victory over Newcastle United on Sunday.
Liverpool’s irritating draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday provided Metropolis the chance to go three factors clear on the summit with simply three video games to play, and Pep Guardiola’s facet made no mistake with a dominant efficiency on the Etihad Stadium.
Raheem Sterling’s opener settled any lingering nerves following Wednesday’s semifinal collapse towards Actual Madrid, which had seen Metropolis – seemingly cruising by means of to a second straight last – concede twice on the demise earlier than Karim Benzema accomplished the fightback in extra-time.
Targets from Spanish duo Aymeric Laporte and Rodri towards Newcastle had been adopted by late strikes from Phil Foden and Sterling, including additional gloss on a near-perfect weekend for Metropolis, who will retain its Premier League crown with victories over Wolves, West Ham and Aston Villa no matter Liverpool’s efforts.
Regardless of the continued elusiveness of the Champions League, one other league victory would mark a fourth in 5 years for the Residents, and concurrently finish Liverpool’s pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple.
An entertaining opening noticed either side squander wonderful possibilities earlier than Sterling nodded dwelling Joao Cancelo’s cushioned header.
His 83rd league purpose beneath Guardiola, the 27-year-old has now surpassed Sergio Agüero because the membership’s highest league goalscorer in the course of the Spanish coach’s tenure.
Many a wonderful purpose have been scored on the Etihad since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016 – Metropolis’s second was not one in every of them.
Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka fumbled Ilkay Gundogan’s bouncing strike into the trail of Ruben Dias, his subsequent save presenting the ball to Laporte, who bundled dwelling for his fourth league purpose of the season.
Metropolis followers might need been forgiven for not being content material with a two-goal benefit after the Madrid collapse, however as the house facet’s possession depend ticked nearer to 70%, even probably the most pessimistic should have relaxed after Rodri added the third.
The Spaniard escaped his marker to go dwelling De Bruyne’s nook for his third league purpose in as many video games. For a staff famend for its flowing passing strikes, extremely, it marked Metropolis’s Premier League-high twentieth set-piece purpose of the season, in line with BBC Sport.
Callum Wilson’s squandered one-on-one miss compounded a disappointing day for the guests, however Newcastle’s season has lengthy been protected after preliminary fears of relegation.
Spurred by the Saudi-Arabian backed consortium takeover in October, a January spending spree helped rocket the Tyneside membership up the desk, with a top-half end nonetheless attainable.
Targets within the video games closing moments from Sterling and Foden meant that Metropolis followers might – this time – take pleasure in two late objectives in a sport.
Elsewhere, an early brace from Eddie Nketiah secured an important 2-1 win for Arsenal over Leeds United in its chase for a Champions League spot, heightening Leeds’ fears of relegation.
Regardless of taking part in with 10 males for over an hour after Luke Ayling’s first half pink card, Diego Llorente’s header arrange a nervy end for fourth-placed Arsenal, who head into Thursday’s hotly-anticipated derby towards Spurs with a four-point benefit over their North London rivals.
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Defeat for Leeds noticed the Yorkshire membership fall into the relegation zone, its distress compounded by Everton’s 2-1 victory at Leicester which lifted it out of the underside three.
West Ham joined Manchester Metropolis in bouncing again from midweek European disappointment, routing already-relegated Norwich 4-0 to ease the ache of Thursday’s Europa League semifinal defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
