Man City ease past Huddersfield, Spurs win at Fulham

Man City’s goal tally is now 100 in all competitions this season, making them the only club in Europe’s top five leagues to reach that total.

EPL: Manchester City beat Huddersfield Town 3-0 at John Smith's stadium in Huddersfield, England on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019.
AP

EPL: Manchester City beat Huddersfield Town 3-0 at John Smith's stadium in Huddersfield, England on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019.

Manchester City easily beat bottom club Huddersfield Town to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool, while in London, Tottenham Hotspur triumphed at Fulham to consolidate third place.

Danilo’s deflected shot gave City the lead in an opening half in which they were not at their sharpest.

That goal took City’s goal tally to 100 in all competitions this season, making them the only club in Europe’s top five leagues to reach that total.

Pep Guardiola’s side upped the tempo early in the second half and Raheem Sterling headed in their second goal in the 54th minute before Leroy Sane made it 3-0 two minutes later.

It was a poor advert for the Premier League with Huddersfield, who look almost certain to get relegated and who parted company with manager David Wagner this week, offering next to nothing as an attacking force.

City’s fourth consecutive win since back-to-back losses over Christmas took them to 56 points from 23 games with Liverpool on 60 after they beat Crystal Palace on Saturday 4-3.

Toothless Huddersfield, who had caretaker boss Mark Hudson in charge for the first time, have only 11 points and are 10 points behind Newcastle United who are 17th.

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With talismanic striker Harry Kane injured and Son Heung-min away with South Korea at the Asian Cup, a duo who have scored 22 league goal between them this season, Tottenham found a new match-winner in midfielder Harry Winks.

England midfielder Winks had not scored for Tottenham since November 2016 but he struck to seal a 2-1 victory seconds before the final whistle at Craven Cottage.

Kane’s replacement, Fernando Llorente, had endured a tough afternoon. He scored a 14th-minute own goal and then wasted two gilt-edged chances that Kane would surely have buried.

When Dele Alli went off with a hamstring injury after equalising for Tottenham, the problems were piling up for Pochettino. But then substitute Georges-Kevin N’koudou, who like Llorente has struggled to make an impact, produced a killer ball to pick out Winks for Tottenham’s dramatic winner.

It meant they moved to within nine points of leaders Liverpool and five behind Manchester City but more importantly gave them breathing space over Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in the battle for a top-four finish.

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