TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Manchester City opened a yawning eight-point gap at the top of the Premier League as they continued their irresistible form with a 3-1 home victory over Arsenal before closest pursuers Manchester United lost 1-0 at Chelsea on Sunday.
City took their goals tally in all competitions so far this season to 52 as Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero and substitute Gabriel Jesus ensured a ninth successive league win.
Alexandre Lacazette did pull a goal back for Arsenal but Arsene Wenger’s side are now 12 points adrift in sixth spot.
Jose Mourinho’s third competitive visit back to old club Chelsea after being sacked three years ago ended in a third defeat as Alvaro Morata’s first goal since September sealed victory for the champions at Stamford Bridge.
Morata headed the winner in the 55th minute.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min became the Asian player with the most Premier League goals ever as he scored in the 64th minute to secure a 1-0 home win over bottom club Crystal Palace.
It was his 20th top flight goal, surpassing the mark of former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung.
Spurs are on 23 points from 11 games, the same as United, with City racing away at the top with 31. Champions Chelsea are fourth with 22, followed by Liverpool and Arsenal on 19.
For pure drama, however, Goodison Park was the place to be as Everton clawed back a two-goal deficit against Watford to win 3-2 with a Leighton Baines penalty in stoppage time.
Watford then had a penalty of their own with 101 minutes on the clock but Tom Cleverley missed it, meaning Everton won a top flight game from two goals down for the first time since 1994.
Victory snapped a run of five successive defeats in all competitions for Everton and took them out of the relegation zone up to 15th -- leaving West Ham United in the bottom three along with Swansea City and Crystal Palace.
“We’ve done it the hard way, but showed incredible spirit and fight,” Everton’s caretaker manager David Unsworth said after his first victory since taking charge of the team following the sacking of Ronald Koeman.
City were not at their electrifying best against Arsenal but still had too much for Arsene Wenger’s side.
De Bruyne fired home after 19 minutes and Aguero made it 2-0 five minutes after the break with a penalty awarded when Raheem Sterling tumbled under a soft challenge by Nacho Monreal.
There was also a suspicion of offside about City’s third goal which killed off Arsenal’s hopes of salvaging something.
“You can accept it if City win in a normal way, but this is unacceptable,” Wenger said.
Guardiola’s side go into the international break in a dominant position in the league having already beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
“Last season against the title contenders, we were able to win just twice,” Guardiola said.
“This season in November, we are already winning three times. If you want to win the title, you have to beat Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and the other teams at the top.”
United were disappointing after the break against Chelsea and two defeats in three league matches has seriously dented their hopes of reeling in their close neighbours.
“We are second, not fifth or sixth and we have 18 teams in a more difficult position than us,” Mourinho said.
“Eight points is eight points but we’ve been through a difficult phase with matches against Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea without important players.”
Victory was a welcome boost for Chelsea boss Antonio Conte after his side were humbled 3-0 by Roma in midweek and according to the Italian proved the spirit is back.
”This type of win is important for our confidence. We showed great desire and passion to win this kind of game.
“We can win or lose but our spirit must be this,” he said.
REUTERS
