MY ACCOUNT
Manchester City edged closer to the Premier League title, while there was significant change at the bottom of the table on Sunday.
City were eliminated from the Champions League semi-finals in dramatic fashion by Real Madrid in midweek, but saw their domestic hopes boosted when Liverpool dropped points against Tottenham on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s side subsequently breezed past Newcastle United to move three points clear of the Reds with three games remaining, while West Ham hit relegated Norwich City for four.
Elsewhere, Arsenal continued their charge for Champions League qualification with a narrow victory over 10-man Leeds United, who ended the day in the relegation zone after Everton triumphed at Leicester City.
Here, Stats Perform takes a look at the pick of the Opta data from the day’s top-flight fixtures.
Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle United: Sterling provides as title charge continues
Raheem Sterling was at the double as City strengthened their grasp on top spot with a 5-0 rout of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.
Sterling and Aymeric Laporte struck in the first half, with Joao Cancelo teeing up the England international’s opener as the full-back became the fourth of Guardiola’s players to reach 10 assists in all competitions this season (also Kevin de Bruyne with 13, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus – both 11).
City are the only team in Europe’s big five leagues to have four or more different players reach 10 assists in all competitions this campaign, and Guardiola’s men furthered their advantage after the interval.
Rodri then scored following a corner, as Laporte did in the first half, as City managed their 19th and 20th goals from set-piece situations this term in the league, excluding penalties. They have conceded just once from set-pieces themselves, with their plus-19 differential the best figure recorded in a single season in the Premier League since such records are available (2006-07 onwards).
Foden added a fourth before Sterling capped a fine victory with his 51st Premier League goal at the Etihad, becoming only the second player to pass 50 strikes for City at home in the competition after Sergio Aguero (106).
City have beaten Newcastle 28 times in the Premier League (D8 L8), more than they have any other side in the competition. In their league history, they have only beaten Everton (72 times) more often than the Magpies (68 times).
Meanwhile, Eddie Howe has lost all 12 of his Premier League meetings with City – 10 of those against Guardiola – the worst 100 per cent losing record a manager has against a single opponent or against another boss in the competition.
Arsenal 2-1 Leeds United: Ill-tempered Whites fall into relegation zone
An Eddie Nketiah double kept Arsenal on course for Champions League qualification as they triumphed 2-1 against 10-man Leeds, who dropped into the bottom three for the first time since October 30.
Nketiah fired the Gunners into a 2-0 lead as he became just the second Arsenal player to score twice in the opening 10 minutes of a Premier League game after Kanu (versus Sunderland in October 2002).
With Alexandre Lacazette out of favour, Nketiah has stepped up as Mikel Arteta’s talisman, scoring four goals in his last four league games – just one fewer than he had managed in his first 52 top-flight appearances.
Luke Ayling was then dismissed for a mindless two-footed lunge on Gabriel Martinelli after 27 minutes, Leeds’ earliest red card in the competition since April 1998 (when Lucas Radebe saw red after 17 minutes against Everton).
Tempers continued to flare before the interval as Leeds picked up their 95th and 96th yellow cards of the season, setting a new record for the most bookings for a club within a single Premier League campaign.
Diego Llorente offered Jesse Marsch’s visitors brief hope as he poked home with Leeds’ first shot on target, which marked the first home league goal Arsenal have conceded from a corner since February 2021 (also against Leeds).
However, Arsenal held on for victory to move four points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, who they face on Thursday knowing victory will secure Champions League football next campaign.
Leicester City 1-2 Everton: Toffees move out of bottom three
Mason Holgate’s second-half header proved the difference as Everton climbed out of the relegation zone with a battling 2-1 victory at Leicester.
Before this game, Leicester had won eight of their last nine top-flight matches against sides starting the day inside the relegation zone (D1), but the Foxes were caught cold by Vitalii Mykolenko’s early volley.
That made Mykolenko the first Ukrainian to score a Premier League goal for Everton, the 39th different nationality to find the net in the competition for the Toffees, the sixth most of all clubs.
Patson Daka restored parity five minutes later, with all five of the striker’s Premier League goals coming at the King Power Stadium – only Jamie Vardy (6) has netted more often at home for the club in the top-flight in 2021-22.
Holgate delivered the decisive finish in the 30th minute with his second league goal in his last five matches, one more than he had managed across his previous 109 top-flight appearances beforehand (one).
Brendan Rodgers will be left frustrated by the nature of Holgate’s goal, given it was the 15th Premier League strike Leicester have conceded from a corner this campaign – the most by a side in a single campaign since Brighton and Hove Albion in 2017-18 (16).
Victory marked the first away league win in 15 games for Everton, ending a seven-game losing streak on the road as Frank Lampard’s side moved a point clear of Leeds and Burnley having played one game fewer.
Norwich City 0-4 West Ham: Bowen and Benrahma on song to down Canaries
Said Benrahma scored twice as West Ham responded to Thursday’s Europa League semi-final heartbreak by cruising past relegated Norwich 4-0 at Carrow Road.
Benrahma struck after 12 minutes before Michail Antonio ended his joint-longest goal drought in the top-flight with his fifth Premier League strike against the Canaries, only against Tottenham (six) has he scored more in the competition.
Algeria international Benrahma doubled his tally before the interval, taking him to 21 direct goal contributions in the competition (nine goals, 12 assists). Since his debut in 2020, Jarrod Bowen (30) and Antonio (28) are the only other Hammers to register 20+ top-flight goal involvements.
Bowen assisted both of Benrahma’s strikes as the former Hull City man became just the second player for West Ham to register at least 10 goals and 10 assists in a Premier League season, and the first since Paolo Di Canio in 1999-00 (16 goals, 13 assists).
Indeed, only Harry Kane (32) has been involved in more goals among English Premier League players in all competitions than Bowen this season (27 – 16 goals, 11 assists).
Manuel Lanzini’s second-half penalty rounded off the victory as West Ham won a Premier League away game by at least a four-goal margin for just the third time, while it was the first time the Hammers have put at least four goals past a side in consecutive league visits since doing so against Tottenham in November 1966.
Meanwhile, Norwich have failed to score in 20 different league games this season, becoming the first side to do so in at least 20 matches in three different Premier League campaigns (also in 1994-95 and 2019-20).
