Erling Haaland equalled the Premier League record for goals in a 38-game season on Saturday as Manchester City closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just three points after a day of drama in the Top-4 race.
The Norway forward netted twice in the first half of City’s 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Leicester to reach 32 goals—the same as Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah’s tally in 2017/18.
John Stones opened the scoring at the Etihad Stadium before a goal from the penalty spot and a clever dinked finish from Haaland. Pep Guardiola substituted the 22-year-old at half-time, denying him the chance to hunt down the overall single-season record of 34 goals in the Premier League era—set in the days of 42 games per side.
City, chasing a fifth Premier League title in six years, are on 70 points, three behind Arsenal with eight games to go—the Gunners play West Ham on Sunday.
The two teams meet at the Etihad on April 26 in a potential title-decider—City’s next league fixture. “Like I said lately, it is win, win and win,” said Guardiola, whose side have now won 10 consecutive games in all competitions.
Also read: Defeat to Leicester today may end title bid, warns City’s Pep Guardiola
“They have had an incredible run this season and I don’t think they are going to drop many points, so what we have to do is be there. It was important for us to win today to arrive for the ‘final’ we have against them [Arsenal] in the next Premier League game,” he said’ Leicester, with Dean Smith in charge for the first time, pulled a goal back in the second half through Kelechi Iheanacho but they slumped to a fourth straight defeat and remain second from bottom of the table.
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