Sterling shines as Man.City sink Arsenal; Hammers inflict more pain on struggling Spurs

Manchester City moved a step closer to the Premier League title as Raheem Sterling’s early goal gave the runaway leaders a 1-0 win against Arsenal on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s side made it 18 successive victories in all competitions thanks to Sterling’s second-minute header at the Emirates Stadium.

With 13 games left, City are 10 points clear of second-placed Leicester, who had closed the gap to seven with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa earlier on Sunday.

City have equalled the club record of 11 successive away victories in all competitions, set from May to November 2017.

They are the first top-flight team to win their opening 11 league matches in a calendar year.

Jose Mourinho’s position as Tottenham manager is under further scrutiny after a damaging 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Sunday as Leicester moved into second by beating Aston Villa by the same score.

Mourinho’s side slumped to a fifth defeat in their last six Premier League games as they paid the price for a sloppy defensive display at the London Stadium.

Michail Antonio put West Ham in front early in the first half and Jesse Lingard doubled the hosts’ advantage after the break.

Lucas Moura reduced the deficit with his first league goal since September, but spluttering Spurs were unable to salvage a point.

West Ham climbed two points above Chelsea into the Champions League spots as their unexpected European challenge gathered pace with a seventh win in their last nine league matches.

It was a first triumph for West Ham boss David Moyes in 16 meetings with Mourinho.

And while Moyes has sparked a remarkable revival at West Ham, who were in a relegation battle when he arrived last season, Mourinho’s Tottenham are in the middle of a woeful campaign.

They are languishing in ninth and trail West Ham by nine points, albeit with a game in hand.

“It is very difficult to think about the top four. The top six teams are getting points. It will be very hard,” Mourinho said.

“The Europa League is a great motivation to get a Champions League spot and a trophy at the same time.”

Tottenham have already lost eight league games this season -- the second-worst return of Mourinho’s career after losing nine with Chelsea in 2015-16.

Mourinho will have to turn the tide quickly to save his job after Tottenham’s latest flop.

“I feel sad, obviously. We started the game with a mistake and started the second half with another one,” Mourinho said.

“The team in the second half was trying absolutely everything. We were the team that tried to play but the boys were not lucky.”

On West Ham’s top four dreams, Moyes said: “We have only done half a job. If we continue this way we will be close. I don’t want to be negative in any way.

“We are enjoying it but are also not going to be daft. We will keep calm and hopefully keep pushing the teams at the top.

“This time last year you were asking me if we can avoid relegation so it is a great feeling that is gone.”

Leicester are determined not to make the same mistakes of last season when they let a huge lead over Manchester United and Chelsea slip away and missed out on Champions League football on the final day of the campaign.

The Foxes now enjoy a six-point cushion over Chelsea in fifth thanks to a flying start against a Villa side who badly missed injured captain Jack Grealish.

James Maddison could be the beneficiary if Grealish’s leg injury forces him to miss England’s World Cup qualifiers next month and he continued his fine scoring form with a low drive that clipped the inside of the post.

Leicester were 2-0 up inside 23 minutes as Harvey Barnes then pounced after Emiliano Martinez saved from Jamie Vardy.

Villa were handed a lifeline three minutes into the second half when Bertrand Traore swept home Matt Targett’s cross, but lacked the creative spark for which they rely on Grealish to find an equaliser.

Agencies