EPL round-up: Manchester stalemate, wins at the top
The gap at the top remained at 4 points Chelsea and Tottenham got the job done in their first games after their FA Cup semi-final clash.
It was a timely return to form for Diego Costa, leading the line and the performance ratings as the league leaders swept Southampton aside with a 4-2 win.
The Brazilian-born Spain striker was on his worst goalless run in 4 years as he was brought back into the fold by Conte alongside fellow semi-final substitutes Eden Hazard and Fabregas.
With rumours of a mega-money move to Tianjin Quanjian in China continuing to gather steam Costa stepped up, first setting up Hazard for the Belgian's 15th goal of the season and after the returning Oriol Romeu equalised for the Saints, replying with two goals of his own.
Nathan Redmond reduced the arrears in second half stoppage time, but the damage was done. With his brace, Costa became one of the fastest players to hit 50 Premier League goals, taking just 85 appearances and bettering the likes of Ian Wright and Luis Suarez on the way.
Tottenham faced the trickiest of midweek assignments with their visit to local rivals Crystal Palace. The relegation battling Eagles are the side no one wants to face at the moment with successive wins against Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool putting daylight between them and the strugglers at the bottom of the table.
Just as it was starting to look as if Palace's resolute backline was going to frustrate Spurs, Christian Eriksen came up with a goal to savour. Deployed in a slightly deeper position for this game, the Dane picked up the ball from distance and drilled an inch-perfect strike into the bottom corner from all of 25 yards. FA Cup and European exits notwithstanding, Pochettino's side have been excellent in 2017, and can thank Eriksen in large part for that.
Wins that keep the title race ticking over for the Top 2 who now head into massive games at the weekend. Chelsea visit Everton's Goodison Park, an impregnable fortress this year. Spurs look for their ninth consecutive win at the expense of Arsenal in what is sure to be an electric North London Derby at the Lane. All to play for then.
Middlesbrough leave it too late
Middlesbrough beat fellow basement boys Sunderland to pick up their first win of the year after going 16 games without. For once, their abysmal form in front of goal deserted them as De Roon hit the target for the only goal of the game.
It matters little as Boro's fate is all but sealed - with Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool still to play, it's a matter of time before the drop for them and their beaten opponents is confirmed.
As for Sunderland, another routine loss capped off a miserable few days for them as neighbours Newcastle confirmed promotion to return to the League next season. That their fiercest rivals will replace them in the top flight makes it even harder to swallow for the side that already look every bit like the Championship team they will soon become.
City fail to break United resistance
Who would've thought at the start of the season that with five games to go United and City would be scrambling for the last Top 4 spots? After all, the summer shake-up in Manchester was the latest chapter in the Guardiola v Mourinho saga. Spending in excess of £150 million overseen by both of their clubs fuelled talk of a title shootout between the two come May.
While United were damaged by their slow start, they have recovered well and could add to their League Cup triumph with a Europa League win that would also tick the box for Champions League qualification. For City however, this season qualifies as an undoubted failure with the bare minimum of European qualification all that's left to play for on the back of their recent Cup exit.
Plagued by a recent spate of injuries owing to a fixture pile-up among other reasons, Mourinho left little to imagination with his diamond formation set up to attack exclusively on the counter. Although the pacy Martial-Rashford duo threatened to get in behind City's backline in the early stages, City saw more and more of the ball but failed to seriously threaten De Gea's goal - all going to plan for Jose.
But with 10 minutes to go, a moment of madness from Marouane Fellani threatened to undo all of United's doggedness and resilience in defence.
Booked just seconds previously for a cynical tackle on Kun Agüero, the big Belgian went chasing him again and in the altercation that followed, mindlessly headbutted the striker to pick up a straight red. The highlight of an otherwise dreary affair, it forced Mourinho to throw on Young and Fosu-Mensah to preserve the draw.
A point does neither the Mancunian Blues nor Reds any real favours - United have trips to both North London sides upcoming while City will be eyeing easier fixtures as a chance to end a disappointing season as they started it - with a series of wins.
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