Manchester City made an instant return to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable win over struggling Burnley.
Liverpool’s win over Watford earlier on Saturday had knocked the defending champions off the summit for the first time since 4 December, but Pep Guardiola’s side responded in impressive style at Turf Moor.
It took only five minutes for City to take the lead when Raheem Sterling knocked Rodri’s cross into the path of Kevin de Bruyne, who time to pick his spot and fire into the roof of the net.
Sterling and De Bruyne combined again for the second goal, but this time it was Ilkay Gundogan who provided the finish – a cool volley past Nick Pope after Sterling found him in space inside the area.
By now, City were in complete control and could afford to see Sterling, Jack Grealish and substitute Gabriel Jesus waste excellent chances because Burnley never looked remotely capable of mounting a comeback.
The home side finally managed a shot on target after 75 minutes, when substitute Jay Rodriguez brought a diving save from Ederson, but they can take few positives from a fourth successive defeat other than the fact they avoided significant damage to their goal difference.
Burnley remain rooted in the bottom three, while City can head into next Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool knowing they will stay in first place if they avoid defeat.
And Christian Eriksen scored his first Brentford goal as the Bees came from behind to beat Chelsea for the first time since 1939.
The Denmark midfielder swept home Bryan Mbeumo’s low cross to put Brentford in front after Vitaly Janelt had cancelled out Antonio Rudiger’s long-range opener at the start of the second half at Stamford Bridge.
Janelt scored Brentford’s third with a cool finish from a tight angle after running on to Ivan Toney’s searching pass.
Substitute Yoane Wissa completed a thumping victory when he fired into the corner after Chelsea failed to clear a free-kick into the box.
The victory moves Thomas Frank’s side up to 14th in the Premier League, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
Chelsea stay third but are now 13 points behind second-placed Liverpool after a second home league defeat of the season.
In the first game of the day, Liverpool beat struggling Watford to complete a remarkable return to the top of the Premier League – for a few hours at least.
The Reds trailed Manchester City by 14 points on January 15, but a 10th straight league win at a raucous Anfield took them above Pep Guardiola’s side, whom they meet on April 10, reports the BBC.
Diogo Jota’s 20th club goal of the season – and his third in as many appearances in a red shirt, 34 seconds after Alisson made a huge save to deny Juraj Kucka – helped seal a tense win.
Portugal forward Jota jumped between two Watford defender to meet a cross and head past Ben Foster as Joe Gomez marked only his second league start of the season with an assist.
Fabinho’s late penalty – after Kucka’s rugby-style challenge on Jota – secured the points.
Despite sealing a potentially significant win, Liverpool were not at their fluent best.
Joao Pedro wasted a glorious chance to equalise in the second half as Watford remain third from bottom, three points from safety.
RESULTS
Liverpool 2 – 0 Watford
Brighton 0 – 0 Norwich
Burnley 0 – 2 Man City
Chelsea 1 – 4 Brentford
Leeds 1 – 1 Southampton
Wolves 2 – 1 Aston Villa
