EBPL: Man City Moves To 4th Position
By Tanko Bauka
Manchester City have leapfrogged Chelsea into the fourth position in the English Barclays Premier League after putting aside their disappointing results in the playoff of the UEFA Champions League game against Real Madrid by thumping Newcastle United by four goals to nothing with their January signing Omar Marmoush to a fine start with a hat trick, a result which put them in a right frame of mind as they travel to Spain for the second leg of the playoff seeking to overturn a 3-2 defeat.
With the manner and the hunger displayed by the Manchester City players in dismantling Newcastle United, the Etihad faithful can now start to believe that their rebuilding process is fully back on track.
As there is jubilation in the other half of Manchester, there is pain and anguish in another part as Manchester United continues to wonder what has hit the once dreaded red devils.
Struggling Ruben Amorim and his boys suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of another struggling Tottenham Hotspur and have dropped to the 15th position in the league table.
The defeat which is the eighth since Ruben Amorim took over following the sacking of Erik Ten Hag has questioned the credentials of the coach to manage the situation as well as the mentality and commitment of the Manchester United players, and many fear if things continue this way the club maybe fighting a relegation battle with the likes of Southampton, Ipswich Town.
Arsenal, in the early kickoff, had defeated Leicester City by two goals scored by their makeshift number nine. Moreno cut the gap between them and Liverpool FC to four, but Liverpool rallied around to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers after surviving a dying-minute scare from Wolves to maintain their 7-point lead.
Enzo Marasca and his boys suffered two defeats in one week at the hands of Brighton Albion as they were squarely beaten 3-0 at the Amex Stadium.
Brighton Albion had earlier in the FA Cup eliminated Chelsea, and in the Premier League, Brighton Albion also ensured that Chelsea left the stadium with nothing as they returned to London.
Everton’s fine form under David Moyes continues as they snatched a 2-1 victory at Selhurst Park in London against their host Crystal Palace after their impressive 2-2 in the Merseyside Derby with Liverpool, while Fulham defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 with Nigeria Calvin Bassey scoring the winning goal.
In the Spanish LA Liga, both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid failed to extend their lead in the league table as they were held to a one-all draw by Osasuna and Celta Vigo, respectively.
The failure of the first and second in the league table offers FC Barcelona, who are sitting third, an opportunity to overtake both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to the first position, though only on goal difference.
In the Italian Serie A, Inter Milan were beaten 2-0 by Juventus and, as a result, missed the chance to go top of the league after the league leader Napoli were held to a two-all draw by Lazio.
Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta were also held to a goalless draw by Cagliari while Fiorentina lost 2-0 at home as they could not contain the firing power of Cecs Fabregas Como, as AS Roma run away with a 1-0 win against Parma.
Bayern Munich and Bayern Leverkusen played out a disappointing goalless draw, though Bayern Munich is sitting pretty well on top of the league with an eight-point gap.
Borussia Dortmund continued their slip as they were beaten 2-0 by VFL Bochum, during the surprise team of the season in the German Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt, beat Holstein Kiel 3-1 to put pressure on Bayern Leverkusen in the second position.
Results across Europe
English Barclays Premier League
Brighton Albion 3- Chelsea 0
Leicester 0- Arsenal 2
Aston Villa 1- Ispwich Town 1
Fulham 2- Nothingham Forest 1
Manchester City 4- Newcastle 0
Southampton 1- Bournemouth 3
Crystal Palace 1- Everton 2
Liverpool 2- Wolves 1
Tottenham 1- Manchester United 0
Spanish LA Liga
Girona 2- Gatafe 2
Laganes 3- Deportivo Alaves 3
Osasuna 1- Real Madrid 1
Atletico Madrid 1- Celta Vigo 1
Villarreal 1- Valencia 1
Espanyol 1- Athletic Bilbao 1
Real Valladolid 0- Sevilla 4
Mallorca 3- Las Palmas 1
Real Betis 3- Real Sociedad 0
Italian Serie A
Bologna 3- Torino 2
Atalanta 0- Cagliari 0
Lazio 2- Napoli 2
AC Milan 1- Hellas Verona 0
Fiorentina 0- Como 0
AC Monza 0- Lacce 0
Udinese 3- Empoli 0
Parma 0- AS Roma 1
Juventus 1- Inter Milan 0
German Bundesliga
FC Augsburg 0- RB Leipzig 0
VFL Bochum 2- Dortmund 0
FC St Pauli 0- SC Freiburg 1
Stuttgart 1- Wolfsburg 2
Union Berlin 1- Monchenglabach 2
Bayern Leverkusen 0- Bayern Munich 0
Werder Bremen 1- Hoffenheim 3 Frankfurt 3- Holstein Kiel 1
Heidenheim 0- Mainz 05 2
