Raheem Sterling once again proved a thorn in Bournemouth’s side as Manchester City survived a scare before beating the Cherries 3-1 to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Sterling had scored in each of his previous five fixtures against Bournemouth, including a hat-trick in October 2015, and he struck after 57 minutes at the Etihad Stadium to settle City’s nerves.
Callum Wilson scored a minute before half-time to cancel out Bernardo Silva’s opener, but Sterling re-established City’s lead before Ilkay Gundogan gave them some breathing space.
City therefore put some distance between themselves and closest title rivals Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s Merseyside derby. The hosts needed only 16 minutes to break the deadlock, Silva tucking into an empty net after Asmir Begovic was only able to parry as Leroy Sane attempted to get on the end of Oleksandr Zinchenko’s ball over the top.
Wilson was unable to make significant contact with Joshua King’s cross, but City did not heed the let-off as the newly-capped England striker powered home a header from Simon Francis’ ball into the box.
Sterling served notice of his intent as he hit a post on the resumption and he continued his magnificent scoring run against Bournemouth, finishing on the rebound after Danilo had seen his effort saved.
Bournemouth had strong claims for a penalty turned down after Fernandinho appeared to push Tyrone Mings in the area, but Gundogan doubled City’s lead in the 79th minute, coolly finishing from David Silva’s low cross.
Manchester United dropped points for a second week in a row but came from two goals down to clinch a 2-2 draw at lowly Southampton.
Saints would have moved out of the bottom three with a win and they went ahead in the 13th minute when Stuart Armstrong crashed his drive beyond David De Gea for his third goal in two matches.
Cedric Soares put the hosts in dreamland with a peach of a free-kick seven minutes later but Romelu Lukaku halved the deficit just after the half hour with his first United goal since September 15.
David de Gea dives but can’t reach the ball as Cedric Soares scores
Ander Herrera capped a frantic first half by levelling from close range after 39 minutes, but neither side could find a winner after the interval.
Burnley crashed to a fifth defeat in their last six matches and remain in the bottom three after Crystal Palace prevailed 2-0 at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles were only ahead of Burnley in the table on goal difference at the start of the day, but they stole a march when James McArthur’s cross drifted into the net in the 16th minute.
Andros Townsend made sure of the win when he cut in from the right and unleashed a fine drive with his left foot from just outside the area that flew past helpless Burnley goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Leicester moved above Watford and up to eighth after a 2-0 victory at the King Power Stadium.
Jamie Vardy netted a 12th-minute penalty after being fouled in the area by Hornets goalkeeper Ben Foster and James Maddison doubled their lead midway through the first half.
Jamie Vardy celebrates
Watford’s miserable afternoon was compounded in the closing stages when Etienne Capoue was given a straight red card after an apparent two-footed challenge on Kelechi Iheanacho.
Mathias Jorgensen opened the scoring for Huddersfield in the first minute, but they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Brighton, who came from behind to win for the first time in the Premier League.
Steve Mounie was given his marching orders after 32 minutes and Shane Duffy levelled on the stroke of half-time before Florin Andone bagged the winner midway through the second half.
Newcastle’s three-match winning run was abruptly halted as a goal in either half from Javier Hernandez and Felipe Anderson’s injury-time strike gave West Ham a comprehensive 3-0 win at St James’ Park.
Provided by Press Association Sport
