Manchester City are back at the top of the table, with a 3-0 home win over West Ham United giving the champions their ninth successive Premier League victory.
Goals from Nathan Ake, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden have taken the champions one point ahead of Arsenal, with a match in hand and five fixtures remaining.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Manchester City
MCI
|
38 | +61 | 89 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +45 | 84 |
West Ham were missing four key players, with Kurt Zouma ruled out with an ankle injury and captain Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek and Nayef Aguerd all missing due to illness.
Their five-man defence frustrated Man City in the first half, but the hosts got the breakthrough in the 50th minute as Riyad Mahrez curled an inviting free-kick to the back post and Ake arrived to head in at close range.
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City doubled their lead in the 70th minute as Haaland ran on to Jack Grealish’s through-ball and chipped a delightful finish over the onrushing Lukasz Fabianski.
It was the Norwegian’s 35th Premier League strike of the season, setting a record for goals in a single campaign in the competition.
See: Haaland breaks single-season goals record
Foden came off the bench in the 77th minute and scored eight minutes later, hitting City's 1,000th goal under Pep Guardiola in all competitions, in the Spaniard's 404th match in charge.
Man City can go four points clear of Arsenal on Saturday when they host Leeds United, now managed by Sam Allardyce. Mikel Arteta’s Gunners visit third-placed Newcastle United on Sunday.
West Ham remain 15th, four points outside the relegation zone.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
38 | -34 | 39 |
| 16 |
Nottingham Forest
NFO
|
38 | -30 | 38 |
| 17 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -23 | 36 |
| 18 |
Leicester City
LEI
|
38 | -17 | 34 |
| 19 |
Leeds United
LEE
|
38 | -30 | 31 |
| 20 |
Southampton
SOU
|
38 | -37 | 25 |
Salah strikes again
Liverpool edged closer to European qualification with a fifth straight Premier League win, their longest run for 13 months, with Mohamed Salah scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 win over Fulham.
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Fulham had the first chance as Carlos Vinicius’s shot was palmed away from the top-left corner by Alisson, but Liverpool took the lead in the 39th minute.
Darwin Nunez, making his first start in six Premier League matches, was adjudged to have been fouled in the box by Issa Diop and Salah converted the spot-kick, scoring a penalty for the second match in a row to hit his 18th Premier League goal of the season.
Salah has now struck for the eighth successive home match in all competitions, the longest such run by a Liverpool player since Luis Suarez in 2013/14.
The Reds are now just four points outside the top four, but they have played two more matches than fourth-placed Manchester United. Fulham remain 10th with 45 points after a seventh defeat in nine matches.
See: How clubs qualify for Europe
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
Manchester United
MUN
|
38 | +15 | 75 |
| 4 |
Newcastle United
NEW
|
38 | +35 | 71 |
| 5 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +28 | 67 |
| 6 |
Brighton & Hove Albion
BHA
|
38 | +19 | 62 |
| 7 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +5 | 61 |
| 8 |
Tottenham Hotspur
TOT
|
38 | +7 | 60 |
Man Utd can restore a seven-point gap ahead of Liverpool on Thursday when they visit Brighton & Hove Albion, who have their own European ambitions.
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A win for Roberto De Zerbi’s Seagulls would take them above Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur into sixth.
See: How De Zerbi's master plan will trouble Man Utd
Liverpool are also within reach for Brighton, who are seven points behind the Reds with three matches in hand.
