MANCHESTER: Erling Haaland scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.

The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight.

But Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games.

Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face next weekend.

Despite a first defeat in 10 games away to Aston Villa last weekend, Pep Guardiola remained confident his side can pose a threat to Arsenal come May.

There were more encouraging signs for Guardiola as Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden shone in creative roles, while Nico O’Riley became the first City player other than Haaland to score in the Premier League for over a month.

Buoyed by their unbeaten streak since losing at Liverpool on the opening night of the season, Bournemouth started brightly.

However, their brave high line was exposed on 17 minutes when Cherki’s header allowed Haaland to gallop clear from inside his own half to slam past Djordje Petrovic.

The visitors levelled eight minutes later when Gianluigi Donnarumma claimed he was impeded as the Italian tried to collect a corner and Tyler Adams thrashed home the loose ball.

But Haaland restored City’s advantage before half-time by racing onto another Cherki pass in behind the Bournemouth defence to round Petrovic and slot home his 26th goal for club and country this season.

The 25-year-old also became only the third player to ever score multiple goals in four consecutive Premier League home games after Luis Suarez and Robbie Fowler.

Guardiola has called for greater contributions from his other attacking players to lessen the goalscoring burden on his prolific number nine.

Still no City player other than Haaland has scored more than once in the league this season, but O’Riley chipped in from full-back to seal the three points.

Foden was the creator this time as O’Riley strode forward before arrowing a low shot into the far corner.

Haaland was denied the chance of a hat-trick as he was replaced by Omar Marmoush eight minutes from time with one eye on facing his former club Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.

A double was enough to keep City still within range despite Arsenal’s rampant run of nine consecutive wins and seven straight clean sheets in all competitions.

Earlier on Sunday, West Ham United manager Nuno Espirito Santo punched the air as the final whistle sounded on his first Premier League victory in charge of the club, an impressive win over Newcastle United.

West Ham looked set for another disappointing afternoon when they conceded early, but they came roaring back to grab a well-deserved 3-1 victory — their first win at home in the league since February.

The Hammers remain in the relegation zone after just their second Premier League win of the season but are now just three points behind 17th-placed Burnley, whom they play next week.

The visitors made wholesale changes in the second half but were blunt in attack and Tomas Soucek made sure of all three points for West Ham in the closing moments.

“The players are realising that, winning in the Premier League, we have to work very hard. We will do it again. The win makes it easier, there are smiles and the legs feel easier,” the former Nottingham Forest manager told the BBC.

“We see slight improvements on the pitch. We have to create a platform on the pitch ... it means a lot for us as a club and our fans. We are able to give them something. It was terrific to hear the noise at the London Stadium.”

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle took the lead courtesy of a fine early strike from Jacob Murphy but Lucas Paqueta levelled and an own goal from the unfortunate Sven Botman gave the home team the advantage at half-time.

On Saturday, Liverpool snapped a dreadful four-match losing run with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa to climb provisionally to third while Chelsea edged Tottenham Hotspur 1-0.

At Anfield, Mohamed Salah became the third player in Reds history to score 250 goals when he struck in first-half injury time, capitalising on a huge blunder from Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez who played the ball right into the path of Liverpool’s talisman.

Ryan Gravenberch doubled the home side’s lead in the 58th minute when he blasted a shot from the top of the box that deflected off Pau Torres and in past Martinez.

Arne Slot’s men climbed to within seven points of Arsenal with just their second win in eight games across all competitions. Villa fell to 11th in the table on 15 points.

“I think everyone who was here today felt the importance of the game, the players and fans as well,” Slot told TNT Sports. “We showed character and won the game.”

Earlier on Saturday, Chelsea striker Joao Pedro got back on the scoresheet for the first time since August when Moises Caicedo stole the ball from Micky van de Ven on the edge of the Spurs penalty box and the Ecuadorian squared for Pedro who made no mistake from eight metres in the 34th minute.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was asked by reporters if he regretted his side not winning by a more emphatic scoreline.

“I am happy with the 1-0, with the three points, especially because we kept the clean sheet,” the Italian said.

Chelsea climbed to fifth place in the table on 17 points after 10 games, one rung below Spurs on goal difference.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2025