Manchester City claimed top spot in the Premier League for the first time since February as Erling Haaland reached yet another milestone in a 2-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday.

It took Haaland only three minutes to score his record-equalling 34th Premier League goal of an extraordinary debut season in England, the Norwegian tucking away a penalty.

It moved him level on the league single-season scoring record of Alan Shearer and Andy Cole. City were pegged back in the 15th minute when Carlos Vinicius rifled a shot past Ederson.

Jack Grealish was denied by the crossbar before Argentine forward Julian Alvarez produced a moment of magic to beat Bernd Leno with a right-foot shot from outside the area.

City were unable to give themselves a cushion after the break despite several chances and suffered some anxious moments but they held on for an eighth successive league win.

They are now top with 76 points to Arsenal’s 75 and also have one extra game to play.

Drama at Anfield

Diogo Jota scored deep in stoppage-time as Liverpool clinched a 4-3 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in a barely-believable thriller at Anfield.

The Portuguese substitute struck in the fourth minute of added time, one minute after Tottenham substitute Richarlison thought he had earned his side an unlikely point.

Newcastle United look almost certain to be playing in the Champions League next season after Callum Wilson’s double saw them come from a goal down to beat bottom club Southampton 3-1.

Third-placed Newcastle were rocked shortly before half time when Stuart Armstrong put the visitors ahead.

But Newcastle dominated the second half with substitute Wilson making an immediate impact with a tap-in goal. He then had another disallowed for offside, but Southampton’s relief was shortlived as an own goal by Theo Walcott put Eddie Howe’s side in front. Two minutes later Wilson sealed the points.

The victory put Newcastle on 65 points with five games remaining.

A goal from Bruno Fernandes secured Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa, increasing their chances of finishing in the top-four and continuing their dominant form at Old Trafford.

United are unbeaten at home in 15 straight league games, with just three draws.

Napoli party gets delayed

Naples: Leaders Napoli were held to a 1-1 home draw by Salernitana in Serie A on Sunday, extending the wait of Luciano Spalletti’s side to seal their first title in 33 years.

Napoli are on 79 points, far ahead of second-placed Lazio on 61 points with six games remaining. They will have another chance to clinch the Scudetto away at Udinese on Thursday.

The stadium erupted when Napoli found the net just after the hour mark through defender Mathias Olivera, who leaped up in the box to nod the ball into the bottom left corner from a corner kick.

But Salernitana equalised seven minutes from time through forward Boulaye Dia, who broke into Napoli’s area and struck the ball at by the far post.

Argentine star Diego Maradona inspired Napoli to its last triumph in 1990, but since then, the coveted champions’ scudetto (shield) has been won almost exclusively by teams from wealthy northern Italy such as Juventus and AC Milan.

Earlier, Inter Milan came from a goal down to win 3-1 at home against Lazio, giving Napoli the opportunity to seal the title.

A second-half double by Lautaro Martinez and a goal by Robin Gosens cancelled out Felipe Anderson’s first-half strike.

Inter dominated possession at the San Siro and thought they took the lead in the 25th minute through Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first-touch strike but Joaquin Correa was offside when setting him up and the goal was ruled out.

Inter continued to create chances but lost the ball outside their own box in the 30th minute, which Lazio midfielder Anderson used to drill low into the corner.

Reuters