Five-star City go top, Newcastle rout Spurs

Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League as lowly Luton were eased aside 5-1 at the Etihad, while Newcastle thrashed Tottenham 4-0 on Saturday.Amid a gruelling schedule, Pep Guardiola could hardly have wished for a kinder fixture in between the two legs of his side’s Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.Guardiola made six changes from a thrilling 3-3 draw in the Spanish capital on Tuesday and City seemed set for a stress-free afternoon from the moment they opened the scoring after just two minutes.Erling Haaland’s shot deflected off the unfortunate Daiki Hashioka into his own net. Yet the floodgates refused to open as the English champions had to wait until after the hour mark before making the points safe when Mateo Kovacic smashed in Julian Alvarez’s cross at the edge of the box.Haaland scored five goals when the sides met in the FA Cup in February. The Norwegian had to settle for just one time this time when scored from the penalty spot for his 20th Premier League goal of the season.Ross Barkley netted a late consolation for Luton but they have just five games left to save their top-flight status. Jeremy Doku fired into the far corner after jinking through the Luton defence before Josko Gvardiol scored his second goal in a week after opening his City account in Madrid.Victory takes City two points clear of Arsenal and Liverpool, who both have a game in hand, and are in action today. Liverpool host Crystal Palace at Anfield looking to bounce back from their shock Europa League defeat to Atalanta.Arsenal entertain Aston Villa, who moved back into the top four without kicking a ball on Saturday thanks to Tottenham’s trouncing at St. James’ Park. "The only way is to win our games and put the pressure,” said Guardiola. "We have done our job and that is what we have to do.”Alexander Isak scored twice, while Anthony Gordon and Fabian Schar were also on target as the Magpies moved up to sixth and kept their slim chances of Champions League football next season alive. Newcastle are 10 points adrift of Tottenham and Villa with six games remaining but have the far easier run-in. "We’ve just got to keep doing our bit which is trying to win every game,” said Newcastle boss Eddie Howe."We’re hopefully returning to somewhere near our best and we’ve got to keep heading in that direction.”Manchester United missed the chance to move back above Newcastle after a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth. Twice the Cherries led through Dominic Solanke and Justin Kluivert, but Bruno Fernandes struck twice to salvage a point for the Red Devils.Bournemouth thought they had the chance to win the game deep into stoppage time when referee Tony Harrington pointed to the spot. But VAR intervened to determine Willy Kambwala’s foul on Ryan Christie had taken place just outside the box.At the bottom of the table, Nottingham Forest edged one point clear of the bottom three after a thrilling 2-2 draw against Wolves. Matheus Cunha struck twice for the visitors at the City Ground to deny Forest a vital three points after goals from Morgan Gibbs White and Danilo had put them 2-1 in front. Brentford’s first win in 10 games pulled the Bees seven points clear of the drop zone as Ollie Arblaster’s own goal and Frank Onyeka earned a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United.An embarrassing own goal by goalkeeper Arijanet Muric dented Burnley’s Premier League survival hopes as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion at Turf Moor. Burnley remained 19th in the standings with 20 points from 33 matches and Brighton are 10th.Substitute Josh Brownhill put the home side ahead in the 74th minute when he intercepted Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba’s back-pass and fired past the keeper with a left-footed shot.Burnley’s joy was short-lived, however, as Sander Berge’s back pass to Muric went under his boot and rolled into the net five minutes later. Burnley’s chances of survival are fading fast after a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton left them still second bottom, six points adrift of safety.ResultsBournemouth 2 (Solanke 16, Kluivert 36) Manchester United 2 (Fernandes 31, 65-pen); Brentford 2 (Arblaster 63-og, Onyeka 90+3) Sheffield United 0; Burnley 1 (Brownhill 74) Brighton 1 (Muric 79-og); Manchester City 5 (Hashioka 2-og, Kovacic 64, Haaland 76-pen, Doku 87, Gvardiol 90+3) Luton 1 (Barkley 81); Newcastle 4 (Isak 30, 51, Gordon 32, Schar 87) Tottenham 0; Nottingham Forest 2(Gibbs-White 45+1, Danilo 57) Wolves 2 (Cunha 40, 62)Playing on Sunday (1300 GMT unless stated): Arsenal v Aston Villa (1530 GMT), Liverpool v Crystal Palace, West Ham v FulhamPlaying on Monday: Chelsea v Everton (1900 GMT)