Liverpool stay top of Premier League as City get revenge

Source: Xinhua| 2019-04-22 10:39:08|Editor: Yamei
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LONDON, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Liverpool kept their nerve to retain their two-point lead at the top of the Premier League as they won a tough game away to Cardiff City 2-0.

Jurgen Klopp's team controlled the ball but struggled to break down a Cardiff side fighting relegation until the 57th minute when Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring following a corner.

James Milner sealed the win nine minutes from time as Liverpool won what could have been a tough away game after Wednesday's Champions League trip to Porto.

The Reds keep their two-point lead over Manchester City, who took quick revenge for their Champions League exit to Tottenham on Saturday with a fifth-minute goal from teenager Phil Foden giving them a 1-0 league win.

It was another end-to-end game and better finishing would have given Spurs a point, as City's defense once again looked suspect.

"It was not our best performance compared with the other day, but today [Spurs] played with nothing to lose and we play to lose the Premier League," said coach Pep Guardiola, who admitted his players had been nervous.

Guardiola also confirmed that Kevin de Bruyne is likely to miss Tuesday's vital visit to Old Trafford with a hamstring injury.

Manchester United's hopes of a top-four finish suffered a major blow as they produced arguably their worst performance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in their 4-0 defeat away to Everton.

United went into the match on the back of their Champions League exit against Barcelona and never looked as if they would take anything from Goodison Park, as Everton controlled the game from start to finish and took the win with goals from Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Lucas Digne and Theo Walcott, who rounded off the scoring in the 64th minute.

The Manchester derby between United and City will now be vital for both City's title ambitions and United's hopes of finishing in the top four.

Arsenal also lost as their Europa League efforts took their toll in their 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

Christian Benteke, Wilfred Zaha and James McArthur scored for Palace, while Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted for Arsenal who didn't have time to find an equalizer.

Brighton & Hove Albion claimed a vital point in their battle to avoid relegation with a 0-0 draw away to Wolves, who seem to have run out of steam at the end of the season, although a look at Brighton's tough fixtures between now and the end of the season shows they still have work to do.

Already-relegated Fulham claimed their first away win of the season, winning 1-0 at Bournemouth thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic's 53rd minute penalty.

Huddersfield are another side doomed to return to the Championship, but they were unable to take anything positive from a seventh successive defeat, as Gerard Deulofeu scored twice as FA Cup finalists Watford beat the Terriers 2-1, with goals in the fourth and 80th minute lifting his team up to eighth.

Leicester City scored an injury-time equalizer to claim a 2-2 draw away to West Ham, although the home side can feel aggrieved as Lucas Perez had a goal which would have made it 3-1 ruled out for a non-existent offside.

Finally, Ayoze Perez scored a hat-trick to end Newcastle United's relegation fears with a 3-1 win at home to Southampton, who still have work to do in order to ensure their top-flight future.

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