City edge Luton, return to winning ways

LUTON, December 10

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Bernardo Silva and Jack Grealish scored three minutes apart as Manchester City came from behind to beat Premier League newcomers Luton Town 2-1 today and breathe a collective sigh of relief with their first victory in five league games.

The win kept the champions — who were missing striker Erling Haaland through injury — in fourth place on 33 points, four shy of leaders Liverpool in a crowded title fight.

The home fans were celebrating at halftime at a raucous Kenilworth Road after Elijah Adebayo rose to meet a cross from Andros Townsend and headed in the opener seconds before the break.

But after numerous City near-misses, Silva scored in the 62nd minute when he curled a low left-footed strike into the far corner past goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski.

Grealish netted his 50th career goal three minutes later when Julian Alvarez sent a cross across the face of the goal that the 28-year-old stretched to slot in.

“We knew we had to keep calm today and buzzing to get back to winning ways,” Grealish said. “I think a lot of people like to talk about City and go on like it’s a big crisis; in reality we’ve played very good teams — Spurs who’ve been unbelievable, Liverpool who are top, Chelsea and Villa away, who’ve got one of the best records in Europe.”

City arrived at Luton reeling from three draws and a midweek defeat by Aston Villa that saw last season’s treble winners plummet to fourth having topped the standings a month ago. A lengthy loss of Haaland, who has what manager Pep Guardiola called a “stress reaction” in his foot, could be devastating for City’s bid to retain their title.

Everton stun Chelsea

Abdoulaye Doucoure scored in his 100th Premier League appearance for Everton and substitute Lewis Dobbin netted a late second goal to earn a 2-0 win over Chelsea that inflicted a third away defeat in a row on the mid-table London club. Tottenham Hotspur secured a first Premier League win since October as Brazilian striker Richarlison also returned to form with two goals in a 4-1 drubbing of a jaded-looking Newcastle United.

On Saturday, John McGinn’s early goal led Aston Villa to a club-record 15th consecutive home Premier League victory, a breathless 1-0 win over Arsenal that prevented Mikel Arteta’s Gunners from reclaiming top spot. — Reuters