EPL: Man City thrash Burnley; Liverpool, Tottenham record narrow victories

Manchester City thrashed Burnley 5-0 to extend their unbeaten streak and climb on top of the Premier League table even as Liverpool and Tottenham edged past Huddersfield and West Ham respectively on Saturday.

City took the lead in the 17^th minute through Sergio Aguero after some neat play between Leroy Sane and David Silva, sent the forward through on goal. They should have added a second at the brink of half-time, but former City goalkeeper Joe Hart produced a brilliant one-handed save to deny Silva, while Aguero made a mess of the loose ball, firing it wide from close range.

The hosts were dominating, but Burnley earned their sniffs and should have very well taken the lead before Bernado Silva added a second for his side. City’s appeal for a foul on Sane was rejected by the referee but the away side’s players were slow to react as David found Bernado inside the penalty box and the Portuguese had no difficulties to find the net.

Minutes later, Fernandinho thumped the ball home from outside the box after Burnley failed to clear the ball from a corner.

With victory assured, City coach Pep Guardiola brought in Belgian Kevin De Bruyne, who had been out with a knee injury from the beginning of the season. Riyad Mahrez, who had missed an important penalty against Liverpool, then curled one into the net for his first goal at the Etihad, while Sane added a fifth in the final minute of play as City traumatised Burnley.

Liverpool Win

Mohammad Salah’s four-match goal drought came to an end with a deft finish in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Huddersfield on Saturday. Ever since his shoulder injury in the Champions League final against Real Madrid, Salah has slightly been lacking in form, failing to produce the kind of performance that made him a ballon d’Or contender last season.

But with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino rested with the Champions League encounter against Red Star Belgrade in mind, Salah burst to form.

He scored the lone goal after receiving a pass from Xherdan Shaqiri in the 24^th minute for his 50^th goal for the club.

West Ham had not scored a goal at home since April and it remained the same, despite the hammers having the ball inside the net. Alex Pritchard slotted the ball home from a Jonathan Hogg header, but the former was rightly ruled offside.

Higg himself had come close to scoring minutes earlier, but his shot the struck the post, while James Milner was lucky not to have given away a penalty despite handling the ball inside his penalty box.

Tottenham edge past West Ham

Erik Lamela scored the lone goal as Tottenham secured a narrow 1-0 victory over West Ham United. The Argentine scored a minute away from the first half after receiving a sublime pass from Moussa Sissoko.

West Ham came close to equalising three minutes into the second half but Marko Arnautovic’s header from an Aaron Cresswell cross was palmed over by an alert Hugo Lloris on goal. Arnautovic had another shot on goal when he ripped low drive goalwards but Davinson Sanchez blocked before the ball could reach Lloris.

Sanchez’s own attempt was thwarted by West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski after the centre-back had an opportunity from a low-corner shot.

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