Haaland double sends Man City top, Chelsea hit back to draw at Newcastle
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MANCHESTER, England, Dec 20 : Manchester City moved top of the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend of the season as Erling Haaland scored twice in a comfortable 3-0 win over struggling West Ham United on Saturday although their stay at the summit might be a short one with Arsenal able to reclaim top spot later.
Liverpool climbed to fifth with a 2-1 win over nine-man Tottenham Hotspur that was marred by an injury to the Reds' British record signing Alexander Isak.
Newcastle United let slip a two-goal lead at home to fourth-placed Chelsea to draw 2-2 while Burnley ended a seven-match losing streak with a late equaliser at Bournemouth.
Bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers lost 2-0 at home to Brentford - their 10th successive league defeat, meaning they have failed to win any of their first 17 games, matching the record set by Sheffield United in 2020-21.
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Haaland's double means he has topped former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo's Premier League goals tally in less than half the time, while City have now won seven successive games in all competitions and are beginning to display the sort of consistency that was a feature of Pep Guardiola's title-winning sides.
City are on 37 points after 17 games, while Arsenal, with 36 points, were facing Everton away later.
City stamped their authority early on with Haaland firing home at the second attempt after his initial effort was parried by Alphonse Areola. Tijjani Reijnders doubled City's lead in the 38th minute with Haaland assisting.
Haaland sealed the win in the 69th minute with an easy tap-in after some woeful West Ham defending for his 104th league goal for City. The 25-year-old's 104 goals have come in 114 games with Ronaldo's 103 coming from 236 appearances.
"(Reaching top in the table) is a good job from us and we have to keep going," Reijnders told Sky Sports. "We will keep the pressure on them (Arsenal)."
West Ham are 18th in the table with 13 points.
LIVERPOOL HANG ON TO WIN FIERY CLASH
Isak came off the bench for Liverpool in the second half after a turgid opening period in which Spurs' Xavi Simons was shown a straight red card, and put his side ahead in the 56th minute before hobbling off with a potentially serious injury.
Hugo Ekitike doubled the visitors' lead with a header in the 66th minute but Liverpool switched off and Tottenham substitute Richarlison fired home after a scramble in the area in the 83rd minute. It set up a nervous finale for Liverpool and they had to endure nine added minutes as Tottenham sensed they might prevent a club-record 11th calendar year league home defeat.
Tottenham ended with nine men after captain Cristian Romero was sent off for a second yellow card. Liverpool were hardly convincing but victory lifted them to fifth with 29 points while Tottenham are down in 13th place with 22 points.
"When they scored, they were pushing and it was difficult," Ekitike told Sky Sports. "It was very physical. It was a great war and we won."
WOLTEMADE DOUBLE
Nick Woltemade's first-half double inside 20 minutes looked set to give Newcastle victory over Chelsea but the visitors hit back after the break with a Reece James free kick and a goal from Joao Pedro.
The result left Chelsea in fourth place with 29 points while Newcastle, whose defensive frailties continue to cost them precious points, are 11th with 23.
Still smarting from Sunday's derby defeat by Sunderland, Newcastle needed less than four minutes to take the lead at a raucous St James' Park when Woltemade fired home a rebound. Chelsea found themselves 2-0 down when Gordon curled in a cross and Woltemade stuck a leg out to direct the ball inside the far post.
Captain James sparked Chelsea into life when he curled in a free kick and Newcastle's lead evaporated in the 66th minute when Sanchez launched a long ball for Pedro to slot home.
Burnley, who are 19th, looked like slumping to yet another defeat when Antoine Semenyo's curling effort midway through the second half gave Bournemouth the lead in a dull game. But Armando Broja headed in a 90th-minute equaliser.
After such an impressive start to the season Bournemouth are now on a winless run of eight games and in 14th.
There was no festive cheer for Wolves as Keane Lewis-Potter scored his first Premier League goals since January to give Brentford a 2-0 win at Molineux. Wolves could not even manage a late consolation as Jorgen Strand Larsen's penalty was saved. Brentford are 12th while Wolves are 20th with just two points.
The first-ever Premier League game between Brighton & Hove Albion and Sunderland was hardly a Christmas cracker as both sides struggled to make chances in a 0-0 draw. Sunderland are sixth, three points ahead of ninth-placed Brighton.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman in London, Lori Ewing in Manchester; Editing by Toby Davis and Clare Fallon)
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