Manchester City kept pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool with an emphatic 5-1 victory over relegation-threatened Luton that put the defending champion back atop the English Premier League.
An early own goal from Daiki Hashioka gave City the lead at Etihad Stadium before a fierce shot by Mateo Kovacic and apenalty by Erling Haaland put the game beyond doubt after the break.
Luton earned a consolation goal through Ross Barkley in the 81st but Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol added late goals to wrap up the win, which lifted City two points above Arsenal and Liverpool.
With City still in contention for a second straight treble of major trophies, manager Pep Guardiola took the opportunity to rotate his squad and left key midfielder Rodri on the bench after the Spaniard said publicly he needed a rest.
Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and John Stones also were rested ahead of Real Madrid’s visit on Wednesday in the return leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. But goalkeeper Ederson returned to replace Stefan Ortega and Kevin De Bruyne was back after an illness.
In the late match, Manchester United needed two penalty decisions to salvage a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth, although the point did little to boost chances of Champions League football next season.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reacts to his side's draw at Bournemouth. Photo / Getty Images
United was largely outplayed and trailed 2-1 when a shot by Kobbie Mainoo from outside the area was deflected onto the arm of Adam Smith. Referee Tony Harrington pointed to the spot even though the ball was traveling away from the goal and the Bournemouth player had little time to react.
Bruno Fernandes converted the 65th-minute penalty for his second goal of the game to secure a point for United, but it was another unconvincing performance from Erik ten Hag’s side that is unlikely to quell speculation about the manager’s future.
Harrington initially awarded Bournemouth an injury-time penalty when Ryan Christie collided with United defender Willy Kambwala as he was running into the box, but a VAR review ruled the foul happened just outside the area.
United are 10 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa and Tottenham with six rounds to go. The Champions League’s new format next season means five teams from the Premier League could qualify for the competition.
Elsewhere, Newcastle handed Tottenham another drubbing at St. James’ Park as Alexander Isak’s double helped secure a 4-0 win for Eddie Howe’s team.
Isak and Anthony Gordon both scored within 95 seconds of each other in the first half as Newcastle followed up last season’s 6-1 home win over Spurs with another dominant performance to damage Tottenham’s hopes of a top-four finish.
Isak, who also scored twice in that big win last April, capped a stellar performance with a second goal in the 51st minute to take his tally to 17 in the league and 21 overall this season. Gordon added his second assist of the game with a corner that was headed home by Fabian Schar for the fourth goal in the 87th.
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou, who took charge after last season, had said this week that he had not studied the tape of the 6-1 loss and he probably won’t want to watch this one back, either.
Isak has now scored in six straight league home games and became the first Newcastle player since Alan Shearer in 2003-04 to reach 20 goals in all competitions in a topflight season, despite missing a total of 10 matches with groin injuries.
The bigg loss meant Tottenham dropped below Aston Villa into fifth, behind Unai Emery’s side on goal difference.
Newcastle is sixth, 10 points behind Villa and Tottenham.
