Here’s what happened this weekend in the Premier League, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Saturday: Pogba bags a brace, Liverpool wins & more
• Sunday: Eriksen shines for Spurs & Man City thrashes Chelsea
WATCH MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Fulham 0, Manchester United 3 || Crystal Palace 1, West Ham United 1 || Huddersfield Town 1, Arsenal 2 || Liverpool 3, Bournemouth 0 || Southampton 1, Cardiff City 2 || Watford 1, Everton 0 || Brighton & Hove Albion 1, Burnley 3 || Tottenham 3, Leicester City 1 || Manchester City 6, Chelsea 0
WHAT STOOD OUT
Liverpool isn’t crumbling, Manchester United turn it around
James Sharman and Danny Dichio break down the so-called struggles of Liverpool FC, and the recent success of Manchester United as they make a run towards a Champion’s League spot.
Man City puts six past Chelsea
What was billed as the marquee match of the weekend – a high-profile showdown between the last two Premier League champions – turned out to be a blowout of comical proportions. Raheem Sterling’s early goal was a sign of things to come, as Manchester City ran rampant in scoring four goals in the opening 25 minutes en route to a convincing 6-0 win over visitors Chelsea on Sunday.
Sergio Aguero was the star of the show, with the Argentine netting a hat trick to lead a sublime Man City side past an outclassed Chelsea side that dropped out of the top four down to sixth by the end of the weekend. Not since a 7-0 loss to Nottingham Forrest in April of 1991 – a year before the Premier League was born – has Chelsea suffered such a heavy loss.
The victory allowed Manchester City to climb over Liverpool into first place – although the Reds do have a game in hand. Still, after watching Liverpool roll over Bournemouth on Saturday at Anfield, you can’t help but feel that City’s dominant performance was meant as a message for their title rivals, and that they don’t plan to go quietly into that good night as the season enters the home stretch.
BEST GOAL
Watch as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero strikes a beautiful curler from outside the box against Chelsea.
BEST MOMENT
Watch as Georginio Wijnaldum uses a sneaky lob to give Liverpool a 2-0 lead over Bournemouth.
BEST MATCH
It was very competitive – the game was essentially over after 25 minutes. But Manchester City put on an entertaining show in putting six goals past Chelsea at home.
BEST TWEET
CRISIS CLUB OF THE WEEK
Danny Dichio and James Sharman discuss Everton’s recent struggles and the situation with Marco Silva.
WORTH REPEATING
“The worst thing I can say is it looks like [Maurizio Sarri has] turned Chelsea into Arsenal.” – Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher at halftime of the Man City-Chelsea match.
THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME
Sadio Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum and Mohamed Salah provided the goals in Liverpool’s romp over Bournemouth at Anfield. But Naby Keita put in a solid shift, doing a lot of the unglamorous grunt work in central midfield in trying to win the ball back for the Reds.
THE BIG QUESTION
Every week, Sportsnet’s soccer panel will debate The Big Question:
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SIX PACK OF STATS
• Manchester United finished Saturday in the top four of the Premier League for the first time since the very first day of the season, when they were top of the table following a 2-1 win over Leicester City.
• Liverpool’s Sadio Mane has scored in four consecutive Premier League games within a single season for the first time in his career.
• Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha scored his fifth Premier League goal this season on Saturday, but it was his first at Selhurst Park since the final day of the 2017-18 campaign.
• Of players with at least five Premier League goals this season, Burnley’s Chris Wood has scored the highest proportion away from home (5 of 6).
• Davinson Sanchez is the 147th different player to score in the Premier League for Tottenham. Only West Ham United have as many (also 147).
• Chelsea have conceded four goals in consecutive away top-flight matches for the first time since December 1990.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS
1) Sergio Aguero, Manchester City: Netted his 11th career hat trick in the Premier League, tying Alan Shearer’s all-time record.
2) Paul Pogba, Manchester United: Scored two goals in a man-of-the-match effort at Craven Cottage.
3) Christian Eriksen, Tottenham: Set up the opening goal and then scored the eventual game-winner for Spurs.
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