5 months ago
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Another treble for Erling Haaland, who is motoring on astatine amended than a extremity a game.
Another 3 points for Manchester City, whose winning streak is up to 5 matches.
That's inactive not capable to halt Arsenal being apical of the Premier League connected Christmas Day.
A 1-0 triumph astatine Everton, secured by Viktor Gyokeres' first-half penalty, means Arsenal — seeking a archetypal English top-flight rubric since 2004 — volition walk Dec. 25 successful archetypal spot for the 5th clip since the Premier League was formed successful 1992.
On nary of the 4 occasions truthful acold did Arsenal spell connected to triumph the title.
History isn't the lone happening the Gunners are fighting.
City is the closest challenger, conscionable 2 points down successful second, and continued its beardown caller signifier by sweeping speech West Ham 3-0.
Haaland scored successful each fractional to determination to 19 goals successful 17 matches successful this run — successful doing truthful passing Cristiano Ronaldo connected the Premier League's all-time scoring database — and besides acceptable up Tijjani Reijnders for the different goal.
City manager Pep Guardiola is inactive not wholly satisfied and revealed his locker-room connection to the team.
“I said to the players, Merry Christmas everyone but it volition not beryllium capable if we don't improve,'" Guardiola said.
Liverpool won astatine nine-man Tottenham 2-1 but mislaid grounds signing Alexander Isak to a near ankle wounded sustained erstwhile scoring the archetypal goal.
Chelsea came from 2 goals down to gully astatine Newcastle 2-2.
Haaland overtakes Ronaldo
Haaland has 38 goals successful a combined 28 games for City and Norway successful what is shaping up to beryllium the astir prolific play of his career. Injury permitting, the play volition extremity successful him going to his archetypal World Cup.
Haaland scored astatine the 2nd effort from Phil Foden's transverse to springiness City a fifth-minute pb and took vantage of a antiaircraft mix-up by West Ham to marque it 3-0 successful the 69th.
In between, Haaland slipped a abbreviated walk to Reijnders, who took a interaction and rifled a changeable into the extortion of the nett successful the 38th.
His 2 goals gave Haaland 104 successful the Premier League, 1 much than Ronaldo — who had 2 spells astatine Manchester United — having played 122 games fewer.
Isak injured
Isak conscionable can't drawback a interruption astatine Liverpool.
The Sweden striker has struggled successful his archetypal fewer months arsenic British soccer's grounds signing, having joined Liverpool aft grooming mostly unsocial successful the offseason. He past precocious had clip retired with a groin injury.
On arsenic a sub against Tottenham, Isak scored wrong 11 minutes but successful the enactment of converting his decorativeness his near ankle was wounded by a situation from Tottenham's Micky van de Ven and helium was helped disconnected the field.
Tottenham was already down to 10 men astatine that constituent aft Xavi Simons' reddish paper for a studs-up foul connected Virgil van Dijk, and Hugo Ekitike doubled Liverpool's pb with a header.
Richarlison reduced the shortage for Spurs successful the 83rd and determination was clip for Cristian Romero to go the 2nd location subordinate to beryllium sent disconnected aft kicking retired astatine Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool climbed to 5th place.
Woltemade's week
What a quality a week made for Nick Woltemade.
Last weekend, helium scored an own-goal to consign Newcastle to a derby nonaccomplishment astatine fierce rival Sunderland. Six days later, helium netted doubly successful the opening 20 minutes to springiness his squad a accelerated commencement against Chelsea.
Chelsea recovered, though, to gully 2-2 with Joao Pedro's equalizer coming disconnected an assistance from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Reece James launched Chelsea's fightback by curling a escaped footwear successful disconnected the station aft halftime.
Chelsea stayed successful 4th spot and has won lone 1 of its past 5 games successful the league. Newcastle, 1 of England's representatives successful the Champions League this season, is languishing successful midtable aft 1 triumph successful its past 4 games — and that was against next-to-last Burnley.
Still winless
Last-placed Wolverhampton remained without a triumph and connected conscionable 2 points aft losing astatine location to Brentford 2-0.
The latest decision meant Wolves tied Sheffield United's 2020-21 grounds of 17 games without a triumph from the commencement of a Premier League play and has mislaid a nine record-extending 10 league matches successful a row.
Keane Lewis-Potter scored Brentford's goals.
Semenyo's worthy
Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo is reportedly a people of immoderate of the Premier League's biggest teams, including Man City and Manchester United.
He underlined his worthy by curling location his team's extremity successful a 1-1 gully with Burnley, which ended its seven-match losing tally connected its pugnacious instrumentality to the apical flight. Armando Broja grabbed Burnley's equalizer successful the 90th.
Sunderland and Leeds are doing overmuch amended since promotion. A 0-0 gully astatine Brighton near Sunderland successful sixth place, portion Leeds bushed Crystal Palace 4-1 to determination six points wide of the relegation zone.
