London: Manchester City restored an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 come-from-behind win Sunday evening at Huddersfield Town.
Huddersfield appeared on course to earn an impressive point against City but Raheem Sterling bundled home a fortunate 84th-minute winner for the visitors after Sergio Aguero had earlier converted a penalty to cancel out Nicolas Otamendi’s own goal.
With a 12th victory in 13 games, Pep Guardiola’s City have made the best ever start to a Premier League season and lead second-placed rivals Manchester United by eight points.
Meanwhile Arsenal climbed into the top four with a 1-0 win at stubborn Burnley, the all-important goal scored by Alexis Sanchez in added on time.
City did not sweep aside Huddersfield as many expected, but the manner of their post-match celebrations illustrated how important victory was on a winter’s evening in Yorkshire.
They may have had many more eye-catching performances this season, but Sunday’s victory was typical of title-winning sides. A rapidly-maturing Sterling, who has scored 12 times in 18 games this season in all competitions, won the penalty that led to Aguero’s equaliser and was in the right place at the right time late on to score after Gabriel Jesus was denied.
“Today (Sunday) was a game that epitomised the Premier League – winter is here, it’s colder, it’s harder to move the ball, they defended well,” said Man City captain Vincent Kompany after his side reached 37 points from a possible 39. “I feel the team deserved the win, we kept at it, even being 0-1 down we believed in ourselves.’
Reuters
