Man City restore 3-point margin atop Premier League

Sports Desk, May 11 (EFE).- Kevin de Bruyne scored four goals Wednesday as defending champions Manchester City pummeled Wolverhampton 5-1 to recoup their 3-point advantage over second-place Liverpool with just 11 days left in the Premier League season.

City improved to 89 points and need just 4 points from their two remaining matches to win the title for the fourth time in five years.

Wolves remain in the eighth spot, yet they could still overtake West Ham United for seventh, which comes with a ticket to the 2022-2023 UEFA Conference League.

De Bruyne opened the scoring for the visitors in the 7th minute, but Leandro Dendoncker brought the hosts level four minutes later.

The 1-1 endured only until the 16th minute, when De Bruyne got his second, and the 3-1 materialized in the 24th as the Belgian completed the hat trick.

City’s Raheem Sterling saw a goal disallowed for offside early in the second half before De Bruyne made it 4-1 at the hour mark.

Undaunted, Wolves put together a stretch of decent pressure and City goalkeeper Ederson was forced to deal with threats from Dendoncker and Raul Jimenez before Sterling added a fifth goal in the 84th minute.

In a game with implications at both ends of the Premier League table, Chelsea rolled over Leeds United 3-0 at Elland Road.

The Blues grabbed the lead in the 4th minute with a goal by Mason Mount and the home side suffered a major blow in the 24th when the referee showed Dan James the red card for a reckless challenge on Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic.

Christian Pulisic extended the advantage 10 minutes into the second half and Romelu Lukaku made the final 3-0 with his third goal in the last two matches.

Third-place Chelsea are on 70 points, 4 ahead of Arsenal, who face sixth-place Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.

Leeds, meanwhile, sit 18th in the table with 34 points, the same as Burnley, who have a better goal difference and a game in hand.

The club in the 16th spot, Everton, have 36 points and have also played one fewer match than Leeds United, who look likely to join already-relegated Watford and Norwich City in being demoted to the second division. EFE msg/dr