Lethal Kane keeps Tottenham in title hunt

Rashford ends Man City bid as United rise again

AFP, MANCHESTER: Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur won 3-0 at home to Bournemouth on Sunday to cut Premier League leaders Leicester City’s advantage back to five points.
But Manchester City’s title ambitions were dealt a likely fatal blow in a 1-0 home defeat by Manchester United in which Manuel Pellegrini’s side lost both Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling to injury.
The result, courtesy of 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashford’s 16th-minute strike, left City 15 points behind Leicester in fourth place and took Louis van Gaal’s United to within a point of the Champions League places.
“Today was one of the best performances of the season,” said Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino.
“We have seven games ahead and when the players come back from the national teams, we hope it is with a good spirit.”
Leicester had provisionally gone eight points clear with a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but it took Kane just 43 seconds to settle Spurs’ nerves against Bournemouth at White Hart Lane by sliding in to convert Kyle Walker’s cross.
It was the England striker’s 20th goal of the campaign and he made it 21 in the 16th minute by applying a polished finish to Dele Alli’s pass.
Kane was denied a hat-trick by Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc in the 52nd minute, but Christian Eriksen followed in to score and seal a win that lifted Spurs six points above third-place local rivals Arsenal.
City are four points further back in fourth and while they, like Arsenal, retain a game in hand on the pace-setters, their title challenge now appears over.
Rashford was United’s match-winner at the Etihad Stadium, the youngster skinning the hapless Martin Demichelis and planting a shot past Hart in the 16th minute to become — at 18 years and 141 days — the youngest scorer in the fixture’s 171-game history.
Sterling hobbled off with a groin injury midway through the first half and Hart was stretchered off with a calf problem early in the second half to complete a miserable day for manager Pellegrini, whose side are also under threat from West Ham United.
“We did not deserve to lose,” said Pellegrini, who predicted that Hart and Sterling would be out for “three or four weeks”.

Lethal Kane keeps Tottenham in title hunt

Rashford ends Man City bid as United rise again

AFP, MANCHESTER: Harry Kane scored twice as Tottenham Hotspur won 3-0 at home to Bournemouth on Sunday to cut Premier League leaders Leicester Citys advantage back to five points. But Manchester Citys title ambitions were dealt a likely fatal blow in a 1-0 home defeat by Manchester United in which Manuel Pellegrinis side lost both Joe Hart and Raheem Sterling to injury. The result, courtesy of 18-year-old striker Marcus Rashfords 16th-minute strike, left City 15 points behind Leicester in fourth place and took Louis van Gaals United to within a point of the Champions League places. Today was one of the best performances of the season, said Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino. We have seven games ahead and when the players come back from the national teams, we hope it is with a good spirit. Leicester had provisionally gone eight points clear with a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday, but it took Kane just 43 seconds to settle Spurs nerves against Bournemouth at White Hart Lane by sliding in to convert Kyle Walkers cross. It was the England strikers 20th goal of the campaign and he made it 21 in the 16th minute by applying a polished finish to Dele Allis pass. Kane was denied a hat-trick by Bournemouth goalkeeper Artur Boruc in the 52nd minute, but Christian Eriksen followed in to score and seal a win that lifted Spurs six points above third-place local rivals Arsenal. City are four points further back in fourth and while they, like Arsenal, retain a game in hand on the pace-setters, their title challenge now appears over. Rashford was Uniteds match-winner at the Etihad Stadium, the youngster skinning the hapless Martin Demichelis and planting a shot past Hart in the 16th minute to become at 18 years and 141 days the youngest scorer in the fixtures 171-game history. Sterling hobbled off with a groin injury midway through the first half and Hart was stretchered off with a calf problem early in the second half to complete a miserable day for manager Pellegrini, whose side are also under threat from West Ham United. We did not deserve to lose, said Pellegrini, who predicted that Hart and Sterling would be out for three or four weeks.