EPL week 11 review: City return to the summit; Chelsea move into second

Week 11 of the English Premier League sees Man City return to the summit after stuffing Southampton, and Chelsea continues their unbeaten run with a victory over Crystal Palace.

Sunday football in the English Premier League (EPL) held no surprises as Manchester City put six past Southampton at The Etihad, and Chelsea maintained their unbeaten league run with a home win over Crystal Palace.

We begin in Manchester, and Mark Hughes became the 2/1 favourite to be the next EPL manager to leave his position, after Pep Guardiola’s side scored five or more goals for the 12th time since leaving Bayern Munich to give the EPL a shot back in 2016.

The 6-1 win, their eighth in nine, sees them replace Liverpool at the summit of the EPL after Jürgen Klopp’s side moved into the top flat after their draw with Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.

The first goal came in the sixth minute. David Silva and Leroy Sane combined down the left before the German fired the ball across the box and Wesley Hoedt hoofed the ball into his own net.

The players in blue flittered around the pitch with the speed of a hummingbird’s tongue, and none more so than Raheen Sterling, who seemed to touch every blade of grass.

12-minutes registered on the clock when Sterling waltzed into the heart of the Southampton defence unchallenged before passing to Sergio Agüero to score his 150th Premier League goal, and six minutes later, it was a Sterling dink to the far post that Silva smashed into the roof of the net.

Then came a rare moment.

Danny Ings found space in the box, only for Ederson to upend him. The referee pointed to the spot, and Ings put it away, the first time anyone in a Saints shirt had done so in 505 minutes of football, and the first goal that Man City had conceded in six games.

Rather than lead to a comeback, the goal only seemed to anger City, who went into the half time interview 4-1 in front after Agüero robbed Cédric Soares in the box before squaring to Sterling to score at the second time of asking.

Only two goals came in a second half dominated by City. The first came on 67 minutes when Agüero once again found Sterling to score his 50th goal for the club, before Sané made it six, three minutes into injury time, with a smart finish from a standing start.

The result means Southampton are now winless in seven league games, and Sparky will be spitting sulfur if they don’t stop the rot at home to Watford on the weekend. City, on the other hand, have a few days rest before taking on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday night before the Manchester Derby on Remembrance Sunday.

And if Hughes does end up on the dole, here are his likely successors.

David Moyes 7/2
Sam Allardyce 6/1
Brendan Rodgers 7/1

Chelsea 3 v 1 Crystal Palace

Fragile.

That’s the word Maurizio Sarri used to describe Alvaro Morato when questioned on whether the club’s record transfer can be the club’s leading man.

The question came after Morata bagged a brace in a comfortable 3-1 win maintaining the Blues 11-match unbeaten run at the start of the season, his fourth goal in as many league games.

It took Chelsea 30-minutes to get into the swing of things when a shot come cross from Pedro landed on the toe of Morata who tapped the ball into the air, turned, and volleyed home.

Chelsea should have gone into the interval two to the good when the linesman incorrectly flagged for an offside when Willian scored from close range, and it looked like that decision may have been a critical one when Andros Townsend equalised, with his weaker foot, eight minutes after the restart.

Sarri needed to shake things up, and he had the perfect tonic sitting on the bench in the shape of Eden Hazard. The Belgian marched onto the pitch, took a free kick from the right, it found Morata at the far post. The Spaniard controlled it on his thigh before sending it into the back of the net.

Five minutes later and it was all over bar the shouting when Marcos Alonso put in a cross from the left, and Pedro arrived like a steam train to put the tie beyond the reach of the Eagles.

Chelsea moves above Liverpool into second place on goal difference. Roy Hodgson’s side are without a win in six league games, and you can expect them to be dangling over the relegation zone like a big arse hairy spider in the coming weeks with Spurs, and Man Utd lined up in their crosshairs.

Results

Newcastle 1 v 0 Watford
Everton 3 v 1 Brighton
West Ham 4 v 2 Burnley
Cardiff 0 v 1 Leicester
Arsenal 1 v 1 Liverpool
Wolves 2 v 3 Spurs
Bournemouth 1 v 2 Man Utd
Man City 6 v 1 Southampton
Chelsea 3 v 1 Crystal Palace

To Be Played (Mon)

Huddersfield v Fulham

Premier League Table

1. Man City – 29
2. Chelsea – 27
3. Liverpool – 27
4. Spurs – 24
5. Arsenal – 23
6. Bournemouth – 20
7. Man Utd – 20
8. Watford – 19
9. Everton – 18
10. Leicester – 16
11. Wolves – 15
12. Brighton – 14
13. West Ham – 11
14. Crystal Palace – 8
15. Burnley – 8
16. Southampton – 7
17. Newcastle – 6
18. Cardiff – 5
19. Fulham – 5
20. Huddersfield – 3