Manchester City did not miss the opportunity to take the lead in the Premier League’s tight title race on Saturday, cruising to an easy 2-0 win over Fulham in the early fixture.
In a related development on Saturday, Manchester United narrowly edged past Watford, while Everton beat West Ham United.
Elsewhere, Huddersfield became the first club assured of relegation.
Sky News Breaking @SkyNewsBreak
Huddersfield Town have been relegated from the Premier League with six games still to play in the season equalling the record set by Derby County in 2007/08
Results of Saturday Premier League games:
Fulham 0-2 Manchester City
Brighton 0-1 Southampton
Burnley 2-0 Wolverhampton
Crystal Palace 2-0 Huddersfield
Leicester 2-0 Bournemouth
Manchester United 2-1 Watford
West Ham 0-2 Everton
Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero decided Saturday’s early contest before the half-hour mark, scoring a goal each to put the final score on the board.
The Citizens were far from their best but were rarely troubled by Fulham, who are inching ever closer to relegation and now sit 16 points behind 17th-placed Burnley.
Rivals United also bagged a win, but Watford made the Red Devils work hard in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first contest as permanent manager.
The Hornets were the better side for large stretches of the match, but a first-half goal from Marcus Rashford and a second from Anthony Martial after 72 minutes led a highly efficient attack to a two-goal lead. Abdoulaye Doucoure ensured some late excitement with a goal in second-half stoppage time, but the hosts held on for the win.
Per sportswriter Miguel Delaney, Solskjaer’s counter-attacking style was on full display once again, and he wondered about the reasons behind the choice to play that way:
Miguel Delaney @MiguelDelaney
LVG does seem broadly right on Solskjaer and counter-attacking football. Question is whether he’s just doing because of players available now, or whether this is his favoured approach? Does feel like they could dominate play more against a non-top-six opposition.
In Leicester, Youri Tielemans was once again the standout for the Foxes, who beat Bournemouth thanks to goals from Wes Morgan and Jamie Vardy. The side has now won three straight matches under new manager Brendan Rodgers after losing his debut contest against Watford.
Burnley shocked Wolves to increase the gap to 18th-placed Cardiff City to five points, but the Welsh side have two matches in hand and control their own destiny in the battle against relegation.
Liverpool can leap ahead of City in the standings on Sunday, when they host Tottenham Hotspur, while Chelsea face a difficult trip to Cardiff. On Monday, Arsenal host Newcastle.
