Man City bags win over Forest to keep heat on Arsenal

Nottingham — Manchester City took another step in their bid to win a fourth consecutive Premier League title with a 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest on Sunday, with Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland on target.

Pep Guardiola’s men kept the pressure on leaders Arsenal, pulling to within a point of the Gunners — who held on to win 3-2 at Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the day — in the table with a game in hand.

Gvardiol got City on the scoreboard when he headed in Kevin de Bruyne’s corner kick in the 32nd minute in a nervous first half in which Forest missed a number of terrific chances.

Haaland made a quick impact when he entered the game as a substitute in his first action since missing two matches with a muscle injury.

The Norwegian took a pass from De Bruyne in the 71st minute and launched it into the far corner for a league-leading 21st goal of the season. He had previously been level with Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.

Meanwhile, Arsenal held on to beat battling local rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 away and move four points clear at the top of the Premier League after an emphatic first-half display and a nervous second period in an electric derby atmosphere on Sunday.

An own goal by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and efforts from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz put the Gunners in control at halftime and though Spurs fought back through Cristian Romero’s strike and a Son Heung-min penalty the visitors claimed the three points.

The victory moved Mikel Arteta’s Gunners further ahead of second-placed champions Manchester City, who have two games in hand and visit lowly Nottingham Forest later on Sunday.

Liverpool are in third spot, a point behind City but like Arsenal having played 35 matches with three games left.

Tottenham’s defeat hit their hopes of playing Champions League football next season as they stand seven points off fourth-placed Aston Villa, albeit still with two games in hand.

Arsenal arrived at the home of their neighbours desperate for a win to boost their title challenge and got the perfect start after 15 minutes when midfielder Hojbjerg headed the ball back into his own net from a corner.

Tottenham reacted to going behind and defender Romero hit the outside of the post from a James Maddison cross.

The hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven placed the ball past keeper David Raya after Pedro Porro’s strike deflected to him and the stadium erupted but after a long delay the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.

The Gunners extended their lead just before the half hour mark, though, when a counterattack was calmly finished by Saka after Spurs’ Dejan Kulusevski slipped in the Arsenal area.

Havertz added the third with a simple header from a corner that eluded the home defence and the visitors were flying.

It was the first time shell-shocked Tottenham had fallen 3-0 behind at home to Arsenal since 1959.

Spurs replaced Rodrigo Bentancur with Pape Matar Sarr at halftime and they pulled a goal back through Romero just past the hour after Raya played the ball straight to him and the Argentine found the bottom corner to lift the home fans.

Tottenham were awarded a penalty after a VAR check in the 87th minute after Declan Rice kicked Ben Davies just inside the area when the Arsenal midfielder tried to clear the ball and Son stepped up to convert the spot-kick.

Goals from Marco Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert gave Bournemouth a comfortable 3-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion to ensure the club’s highest points total in the Premier League era with three games left to play.

The 10th-placed Cherries have amassed 48 points, two more than their previous best total of 46 achieved in the 2016-17 season. South-coast rivals Brighton, who finished sixth last season, are 12th on 44 points.

Reuters