Manchester City swept back to the top of the table with a stylish 2-0 win at Fulham, while Huddersfield equalled the record for the earliest Premier League relegation after defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Amid the drama at the top and bottom, Manchester Unitedcelebrated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first match as permanent manager with a 2-1win over Watford to climb into fourth place.
Bernardo Silva’s fifth-minute strike from the edge of thearea was followed by Sergio Aguero’s cool finish as City effectively wrapped upthe points in the first 27 minutes.
City lead Liverpool by one point with seven games remainingfor both sides, but Jurgen Klopp’s men can regain pole position with victoryover third-placed Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola’s side remain on course for an unprecedentedquadruple of Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, whichthey retained last month.
A potential 14 games now stand between them and history, butthere will be far tougher tests in wait than struggling Fulham, who are 16points adrift of safety with just six games left.
“The way we started was amazing. They surprised me again,the first 15-20 minutes was exceptional,” Guardiola said. “Every game we haveto win if we want to be champions. We have tough opponents, but that is thechallenge.”
Bottom-of-the-table Huddersfield’s two-season stay in thetop flight came to an end at Selhurst Park as they slumped to a 24th defeat in32 league games by losing 2-0 at Palace.
Huddersfield are only the second club to be relegated fromthe Premier League in March after Derby went down with 11 points in 2008.
They survived just one day longer than Derby in 2008 andequalled their unwanted Premier League record of relegation after 32 games.Already destined for the drop, Jan Siewert’s side had their fate sealed due totheir result and wins for Burnley and Southampton.
Luka Milivojevic’s 76th-minute penalty put Huddersfield behind after a foul on Palace winger Wilfried Zaha.