MY ACCOUNT
Manchester City and Liverpool produced a pulsating top-of-the-table clash on another enthralling day of Premier League action on Sunday.
The top two played out a hugely entertaining 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium to ensure the title race remains delicately poised with seven games remaining, City’s one-point lead intact for now.
Elsewhere, Brentford beat London rivals West Ham, while there were wins for Leicester City and Norwich City over Crystal Palace and Burnley respectively.
Stats Perform takes a look at some key Opta facts from the day’s games.
Manchester City 2-2 Liverpool: Guardiola’s men miss chance to pull clear of rivals
The hosts started at a breathless pace and went ahead early on thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s 11th Premier League goal of the season. The Belgium international has only once scored more in a single top-flight campaign (13 in 2019-20).
Diogo Jota pulled Liverpool level before Gabriel Jesus restored City’s advantage, and both players maintained their records of never losing in a Premier League game when they have scored. Jota is unbeaten in 33 matches (W27 D6) and Jesus in 45 (W42 D3), with only James Milner (54 games) and Darius Vassell (46) scoring in more without losing in Premier League history.
Sadio Mane scored just 46 seconds into the second half to secure a point for the Reds. It was the first time they had scored in the opening minute of the second half in a league game since January 2019 (Mohamed Salah vs Crystal Palace) and the first time City had conceded in the 46th minute in a Premier League game since November 2004 vs Norwich City.
The result means Liverpool are now winless in their last five Premier League matches against City (D3 L2), their joint-longest run without a victory against them along with a five-game run between November 2011 and December 2013.
Brentford 2-0 West Ham: Hammers stung by Bees
This win means Brentford have recorded a league double over West Ham for only the second time, last doing so in 1953-54 when both sides were in the second tier.
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring and the forward has now found the net in both Premier League games against West Ham this season. He is only the second Brentford player ever to score both home and away against the Hammers in the same league campaign, after Jack Holliday in 1933-34.
Ivan Toney added a second to take his tally to eight goals from 32 shots in the Premier League in 2022, after netting just four times from 36 attempts prior to the new year. Indeed, only Son Heung-min (nine) has scored more top-flight goals since the turn of the new year than the Brentford striker.
West Ham, meanwhile, have lost seven of their last 11 away Premier League games (W2 D2), which is one more away defeat than they suffered last season.
The Hammers have suffered three consecutive away defeats for the first time since a seven-game run between December 2019 and June 2020.
Leicester City 2-1 Crystal Palace: Foxes too strong for Vieira’s men
Leicester remain unbeaten in their last six Premier League games against Palace (W4 D2), having lost four on the bounce against the Eagles in the top-flight before this run.
Ademola Lookman got them on their way with his fifth league goal of the season, equalling his best tally in a domestic campaign for a side in Europe’s big five leagues (also five in 2017-18 with RB Leipzig).
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall then doubled their advantage with a superb strike after being teed up by James Maddison.
England international Maddison, who has been involved in more Premier League goals than any other Leicester player this season (eight goals, five assists), became just the fourth player to register 20-plus goals and 20-plus assists for the Foxes in the Premier League, after Muzzy Izzet, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
Patrick Vieira’s Palace got one back through Wilfried Zaha, who has scored more Premier League goals against Leicester than he has versus any other side in the competition (seven), yet they were unable to find an equaliser.
Norwich City 2-0 Burnley: Canaries boost survival hopes
Norwich injected life into their Premier League survival bid with a comfortable win over fellow strugglers Burnley.
Pierre Lees-Melou opened the scoring with his first Premier League goal for the Canaries in his 26th appearance in the competition, becoming the first French player to score for the club in the English top flight.
Teemu Pukki made sure of the three points with his 20th Premier League goal, moving him ahead of Mark Robins (19) as the club’s third top scorer in the competition after Chris Sutton (33) and Grant Holt (23).
The result meant Dean Smith’s side have gone unbeaten home and away against a Premier League opponent for just the second time this season (D1 W1).
Burnley, meanwhile, are winless in their last four Premier League games against teams starting the day bottom of the table (D1 L3).
