Saturdays Premier Round Up (30th March)

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Premier League round-up: Manchester City back on top after easy victory over Fulham; Huddersfield relegated

We review the Premier League action on Saturday, where Manchester City moved back to the top of the table with an easy win over Fulham.

Results

Fulham 0-2 Manchester City
Brighton 0-1 Southampton
Burnley 2-0 Wolves
Crystal Palace 2-0 Huddersfield
Leicester 2-0 Bournemouth
Manchester United 2-1 Watford
West Ham 0-2 Everton

Fulham 0-2 Manchester City

Bernardo Silva fired Manchester City back to the Premier League summit as Pep Guardiola's men coasted to a 2-0 win at Fulham.

Portugal star Silva notched his 11th goal in all competitions this term, before setting up Sergio Aguero for a neat finish at Craven Cottage.

Aguero extended his lead at the top of the Premier League's scoring chart, with his 19th top-flight strike of yet another glittering campaign.

City racked up their 11th win in their last 12 outings in all competitions, leapfrogging rivals Liverpool to top the pile.

Guardiola's masterful City never even moved out of second gear in a relaxed victory which maintains their bid for an unprecedented quadruple.

Fulham now go on to Tuesday night's Vicarage Road encounter with Watford, where defeat could yet confirm their relegation back to the Championship.

Caretaker manager Scott Parker has added shape and impetus to the Cottagers in a poor top-flight campaign, but that is bound to prove too little, too late.

Crystal Palace 2-0 Huddersfield

Huddersfield have been relegated from the Premier League after losing 2-0 to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Defeat means their future as a top-flight team was settled at the stadium at which it began with a convincing 3-0 victory in August 2017, and they join Derby in becoming only the second Premier League team to be relegated before the end of March.

Burnley beating Wolves and Southampton's victory at Brighton left Huddersfield requiring a point to remain in contention for survival - but they could not manage it.

From 32 league fixtures they have taken only 15 points, leaving them 16 from safety, something even 14th-placed Palace are yet to truly achieve despite goals from Luka Milivojevic and Patrick van Aanholt.

It was midway through the second half when Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha combined down the left wing for the latter to send Townsend through on goal to shoot narrowly wide of the right post.

Zaha was then similarly wasteful when he went to round Hamer and delayed when he should have shot, allowing Huddersfield to desperately clear, and Townsend then stabbed wide from close range when Christian Benteke had headed into his path.

When Zaha was brought down in the area by Juninho Bacuna, referee Lee Probert had little choice but to award the 76th-minute penalty that essentially consigned the visitors to relegation. The reliable Milivojevic confidently finished down the middle as Hamer dived, giving Palace the lead.

With the hosts continuing to attack and Zaha again going close, this time shooting wide of the left post when through on goal, they needed until the 88th minute to double their lead.

This time Zaha sent Van Aanholt clear and watched as the full-back shot at an angle past Hamer and into the back of the net, confirming Huddersfield's return to the Championship.

Brighton 0-1 Southampton

Southampton took a significant step towards Premier League survival with a 1-0 win which increases the relegation concerns of south coast rivals Brighton.

Saints captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg earned the visitors victory at the Amex Stadium by scoring his first goal since December early in the second half.

Albion almost levelled when right-back Martin Montoya crashed a shot against the crossbar from the edge of the box with 18 minutes to go but Chris Hughton's side, who grabbed a last-gasp equaliser at St Mary's in September, were unable to salvage a draw.

The result moves Saints level on 33 points with the Seagulls, five above the drop zone ahead of 18th-placed Cardiff's clash with Chelsea on Sunday.

Burnley 2-0 Wolves

Sean Dyche celebrated his 300th match in charge of Burnley with a 2-0 win over Wolves which could prove vital in the battle against the drop.

Conor Coady's third own goal of the season put them ahead inside two minutes before teenager Dwight McNeil fired in his third Burnley goal to settle matters in the 77th minute.

It was Burnley's first top-flight win over Wolves since 1963 - coming at the 10th attempt - but more importantly it ended a run of four straight defeats which had left Dyche's side hovering just above the Premier League drop zone.

With crucial games against Bournemouth and Cardiff next up before they face Chelsea and Manchester City, there was a nervous feel around Turf Moor as Dyche was congratulated on his landmark before kick-off, but they were soon settled.

Less than a minute in, Romain Saiss fouled Chris Wood to give Burnley a free-kick on the left.

McNeil whipped the ball in and Chris Wood peeled away from his marker, rounded Rui Patricio and poked his shot on to the post.

Coady, guilty of letting Wood go, compounded the error as he slid in and inadvertently bundled the ball over the line.

Leicester 2-0 Bournemouth

Wes Morgan marked his return to the team with another goal as Leicester continued their solid start under Brendan Rodgers with a 2-0 victory against Bournemouth at King Power Stadium.

Morgan proved an able deputy against Burnley two weeks ago following Harry Maguire's fourth-minute red card at Turf Moor, where the veteran defender scored the Foxes' late winner in a 2-1 victory.

With Maguire suspended, the 35-year-old started on Saturday and he picked up where he left off prior to the international break by getting on the scoresheet again after 11 minutes.

Jamie Vardy added a second goal late on to give Rodgers a third win in his four matches as manager, it also ensured Leicester won three successive Premier League fixtures for the first time since May 2017.

Rodgers, who left Celtic to succeed Claude Puel just over a month ago, has enjoyed an encouraging start to life at the King Power Stadium and the Foxes are now level with Wolves on 44 points.

Manchester United 2-1 Watford

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was made to sweat for his first win as permanent manager as sluggish Manchester United rode their luck against Watford.

Two days after the caretaker position became a full-time post, Jose Mourinho's successor was unable to put on a show for the Old Trafford faithful as the high-flying Hornets threatened to ruin the Norwegian's day.

Watford were on top for large patches as they pushed for a first league win at Old Trafford, but Javi Gracia's men were unable to take their chances as Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial netted in a 2-1 triumph.

Abdoulaye Doucoure scored late on for the impressive visitors and the manner of Saturday's performance underlined just why Solskjaer wrote in his programme notes that "now the hard work starts for all of us".

Still, this was a welcome boost after back-to-back defeats before the international break for United.

West Ham 0-2 Everton

Everton took advantage of a shambolic West Ham display to leapfrog them in the race for seventh.

First-half goals from Kurt Zouma and Bernard secured a 2-0 win for a dominant Everton side and kept them firmly in the hunt for a potential Europa League spot.