LONDON: The striker’s 1-0 victory over Southampton propelled Manchester City to the top of the Premier League, while Bournemouth’s last-minute equalizer on Saturday frustrated Aston Villa.
At the Etihad Stadium, Haaland ended that brief drought in the first half after going three league games without scoring.
That was sufficient to propel Pep Guardiola’s team to first place, two points ahead of second-place Liverpool, which has the opportunity to reclaim pole position if they win their epic matchup with title rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
City haven’t lost a league game at the Etihad in 35 games in the past two years, and bottom-of-the-table Southampton were never going to break that impressive streak. They have only one point from nine games this season.
Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish were ruled out, so Guardiola made four changes to the team that beat Sparta Prague 5-0 on Wednesday in the Champions League.
Haaland had scored a daring goal against Sparta, and despite the fact that his attempt to end Southampton’s season was more routine, it was arguably much more valuable in the context of a tight title race.
In the fifth minute, Haaland received a cross from Matheus Nunes, and the Norwegian showed strength and a desire to advance past his opponent to score from close range.
City missed several chances to increase their lead, but Haaland scored his 14th goal of the season, giving the champions seven wins from nine league matches as they try to win their fifth title in a row.
Bournemouth salvaged a 1-1 draw at Villa Park, which ended Villa’s chances of winning the title.
After defeating Young Boys, Bayern Munich, and Bologna, Villa is leading the Champions League.
Despite taking the lead in the 76th minute, they were unable to secure a domestic victory to follow their most recent success in Europe.
Ross Barkley scored his first goal for the club after Leon Bailey set up a cross from Ian Maatsen.
However, six minutes into the final period, Evanilson scored with a headed equalizer to save Bournemouth.
In a thrilling match in west London, Brentford defeated fourth-bottom Ipswich Town 4-3.
Sam Szmodics of Ipswich scored from 15 yards in the 28th minute, and three minutes later, George Hirst scored calmly past Mark Flekken.
But in the 44th minute, Yoane Wissa scored, and Harry Clarke scored an own goal seconds later to bring Brentford level.
Brentford took a 3-2 lead thanks to Bryan Mbeumo’s 51st-minute penalty for Clarke’s foul on Keane Lewis-Potter.
After fouling Lewis-Potter to earn a second booking, Clarke was sent off in the final minutes, completing a miserable day for him.
Liam Delap’s 86th moment balancer seemed to have saved Clarke’s blushes, yet Mbeumo grabbed triumph with the last kick of stoppage-time.
At fifth-place Brighton & Hove Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers staged an incredible comeback to draw 2-2.
In the first half of extra time, Danny Welbeck scored his sixth goal of the season, and Evan Ferguson scored with a precise finish from a cross from Tariq Lamptey in the 85th minute to keep Brighton in control.
However, three minutes later, Rayan Ait-Nouri scored again, and Matheus Cunha scored a deflected equalizer to prevent Wolves from losing for the sixth time in a row in the league.
