BIRMINGHAM, Sep 17: Erling Haaland added a strike from outside the area to his repertoire of goals since joining Manchester City in a 3-0 win at 10-man Wolverhampton in the Premier League on Saturday.
City had already taken the lead through Jack Grealish after 55 seconds at Molineux when Haaland picked up the ball 40 meters out, drove toward the penalty box and shot right-footed into the bottom corner from the edge of the area in the 16th minute.
It was Haaland’s 11th goal in seven league games since his offseason arrival from Borussia Dortmund – with the majority coming from right in front of goal.
Wolverhampton’s already-slim chances ended when centre back Nathan Collins was shown a straight red card for a chest-high lunge on Grealish in the 33rd.
Phil Foden swept in a right-wing cross from Kevin De Bruyne, who provided a similar assist for Grealish’s goal, in the 69th minute to round off a win that took City above Arsenal into first place – at least overnight.
Villa beat Southampton
Aston Villa further eased the pressure on manager Steven Gerrard with a scrappy 1-0 win over Southampton in the English Premier League earned by Jacob Ramsey’s 41st-minute goal on Friday.
The midfielder’s first goal of the season lifted Villa to 13th place — tied on points with the visitors — with a victory that built on its battling point against Manchester City two weeks ago.
In between, the league paused following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and there were tributes to the late monarch before the game.
It was a forgettable game between two teams still searching for a consistent identity.
Southampton slipped to a third defeat in four games to leave legitimate questions over the future of manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Villa’s performance was workmanlike and far from fluid, in reality doing little to ease long-term fears of the team’s direction in the league under Gerrard.
Fourth from the bottom at kick-off, Villa had won just one of its previous 10 league games and, in truth, did little to suggest it would improve that record for the majority of the first half.
It took 34 minutes for Philippe Coutinho, who had scored just once and failed to provide an assist since March, to create a rare chance when he spun away from James Ward-Prowse and drilled over.
Villa snatched the lead when a corner was played short to Coutinho and his cross found Ollie Watkins, whose header was turned onto the bar by Gavin Bazunu.
Southampton failed to clear the looping ball and Ramsey smashed it in.
Energised, Villa pushed for a second with Leon Bailey’s shot deflecting wide and Douglas Luiz’s corner turned over by Bazunu.
Southampton never threatened, leaving Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez untroubled and allowing Villa to comfortably hold its lead.
Fulham trump Forest
Fulham scored three goals in a six-minute passage of play to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 on Friday in an entertaining match between teams having contrasting fortunes since promotion to the English Premier League.
Tosin Adarabioyo, Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed scored in a whirlwind spell from the 54th minute at City Ground, helping Fulham move up to sixth place.
Nigeria forward Taiwo Awoniyi marked his return to the Forest starting lineup with an 11th-minute opener and Lewis O’Brien set up a grandstand finish in the 77th.
Fulham held on, though, to condemn Forest to a fourth straight defeat, keeping the team in next-to-last place.
The top-flight resumed on Friday after last week’s fixtures were called off as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and there were some heartfelt tributes to mark the monarch’s passing.
A minute’s silence was impeccably observed by the overwhelming majority in City Ground, with the odd outburst drowned out by an ovation before fans sang ‘God Save the King.’ There was a round of applause in the 70th minute to commemorate the length of the queen’s reign.
In another match on Saturday, a 67th minute penalty by Newcastle’s Alexander Isak allowed them a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth at home.
Philip Billing put Bournemouth ahead in the 62nd minute. (AP)
