PL Roundup| Manchester City strengthen their hopes of top four finish; Swansea move away from the bottom three

PL Roundup| Manchester City strengthen their hopes of top four finish; Swansea move away from the bottom three

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Manchester City beat Leicester City 2-1 in a controversial game at the Etihad stadium to strengthen their hopes of a top-four finish. David Silva and Gabriel Jesus struck for Manchester City. Meanwhile, Swansea took a big step away from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Sunderland.

Manchester City should have opened the scoring in the third minute itself, but Fernandinho’s header was just wide of the mark, after a corner from Leroy Sane. 

But David Silva eventually managed to break the deadlock in the 29th minute with a controversial goal following a low cross from Leroy Sane. Raheem Sterling had appeared to take a swing at the ball, whilst being in an offside position. However, the goal was allowed to stand, despite protests from the Leicester players.

Gabriel Jesus then doubled City’s lead by stepping up 7 minutes later and converting a penalty after Sane was carelessly brought down by Yohan Benalouane. Leicester, who had their title officially taken away from them by Chelsea on Friday, have been on a resurgent run of form under Craig Shakespeare.

And true to their recent form, Leicester responded strongly when Shinji Okazaki halved the deficit with a strike just before half-time. Riyad Mahrez thought he had forced a draw when he converted a penalty in the final 15 minutes of the game, but his strike was ruled out by referee Robert Madley, as the Algerian struck the ball onto his standing leg before it spun into the net. The result moves Manchester City into third place with 72 points, ahead of Liverpool, who have 70 and are in the fourth position.  

In the other game, Arsenal maintained the pressure on Liverpool in the race for the top four, with a convincing 4-1 victory over Stoke City.

Arsenal took the lead through Olivier Giroud just before half-time and Mesut Ozil doubled the Gunners’ lead 10 minutes into the second half with a sublime finish. But Peter Crouch gave the home side hope when he pulled one back midway through the second half. However, Alexis Sanchez ended all hopes of a comeback for Stoke when he arrowed his shot into the far corner of the net. And Giroud sealed the deal for the Gunners when he grabbed his second after being played in by Aaron Ramsey. The result helps Arsenal stay just one point behind Liverpool on 69 points in the 5th place.

At the other end of the table, Swansea took a big step to Premier League survival with a 2-0 win over the already relegated Sunderland. Fernando Llorente and Kyle Naughton struck in the first half for the Swans.

Results:

Middlesbrough 1 -Southampton 2   

Sunderland 0- Swansea 2

Bournemouth 2- Burnley 1

Manchester City 2- Leicester City 1

Stoke City 1- Arsenal 4

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