Haaland powers Man City past Palace; Spurs win on Kane double

Sports Desk, Mar 11 (EFE).- Erling Haaland converted a penalty in the 78th minute Saturday to give Manchester City a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace and cut the gap between the defending champions and Premier League leaders Arsenal to 2 points, while Tottenham Hotspur got two goals from captain Harry Kane to beat Nottingham Forest 3-1.

City were not at their best at London’s Selhurst Park, where the hosts defended tenaciously.

Pep Guardiola’s men, who would end the contest with 68 percent possession, failed to test Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita in the first half, as Haaland fired over the cross-bar on the most promising opportunity.

Ten minutes into the second half, Guaita did well to bat away a tremendous free kick from Phil Foden.

The game was still scoreless when City won a corner in the 77th minute. Noticing that Palace were slow to get in position, Jack Grealish quickly sent a low ball into the area for Ilkay Gündogan, who drew a clumsy foul by Michael Olise.

The referee pointed to the spot and Haaland put City ahead 1-0 with his 29th Premier League goal of the campaign and one proved to be enough against a home side who have gone three games without a shot on target.

Winless in their last 10, Palace remain 12th in the table, but are just 4 points above the drop zone.

City improved to 61 points, 2 behind Arsenal, who are in action Sunday against Fulham.

Tottenham, meanwhile, tightened their grip on fourth place – the final Champions League spot – with a comfortable 3-1 result against Nottingham Forest.

Spurs appeared to go ahead in the fourth minute with Richarlison’s first league goal with the London club, but VAR determined the Brazilian was offside and it didn’t count.

The reprieve for Forest lasted only until the 19th minute, when Kane headed home for the 1-0.

Richarlison won a penalty in the 34th for a foul by Joe Worrall and Kane beat keeper Keylor Navas from the spot to make it 2-0 and increase his Premier League goal total for the season to 20.

Son Heung-min, suffering through his worst season since coming to England, extended the advantage to 3-0 with a goal in the 62nd minute and only a great save by Navas thwarted Richarlison in the 79th.

Worrall got a consolation goal for Forest in the 81st minute thanks to a mistake by keeper Fraser Forster.

The win boosted Spurs to 48 points, 6 better than Liverpool, who have a game in hand. Nottingham Forest are 14th on 26 points. EFE msg/dr