TheCable

Manchester City secured a comfortable 3-1 win over Leicester City in their English Premier League (EPL) encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The EPL champions made a quick meal of the Foxes, scoring thrice in the first half through John Stones and Erling Haaland (brace) to deepen Leicester’s relegation fears.

Stones thumped a shot into the right corner from the edge of the box to give Man City the lead on five minutes.

The video assistant referee (VAR) was called into action to confirm a handball by Wilfred Ndidi in the penalty area and a penalty awarded to Man City which Haaland dispatched expertly to double the lead on 13 minutes.

The Norwegian striker scored again — his 32nd EPL goal of the season — with a neat chip over the goalkeeper to settle the encounter after just 24 minutes.

Kelechi Iheanacho, however, scored the visitors’ solitary goal against his former employees on 61 minutes, tapping in the rebound from an Ederson save following a corner kick.

The win reduces Arsenal’s lead at the summit of EPL to three points, with City on 70 points from 30 matches.

Leicester, however, remain in 19th position with 25 points from 31 matches.

Earlier in the day, the Blues continued their woeful form with a 2-1 loss to Brighton at Stamford Bridge, a first ever win for the visitors at Chelsea.

Newcastle United also lost 3-0 at Aston Villa while Tottenham were handed a shock 3-2 defeat at their London Stadium by visiting Bournemouth.

RESULTS

• Aston Villa 3-0 Newcastle
• Everton 1-3 Fulham
• Chelsea 1-2 Brighton and Hove Albion
• Southampton 0-2 Crystal Palace
• Wolves 2-0 Brentford
• Tottenham 2-3 Bournemouth
• Manchester City 3-1 Leicester City