Haaland double sends Man City top, Chelsea hit back to draw at Newcastle

MANCHESTER, England, Dec 20 : Manchester City moved ‌top of the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend of the season as Erling Haaland scored twice in a comfortable 3-0 win over struggling West Ham United on Saturday although their stay at the summit might be a short one with Arsenal able to reclaim top spot later.

Liverpool climbed to fifth with a 2-1 win over nine-man Tottenham Hotspur that was marred by an injury to the Reds' British record signing Alexander Isak. 

Newcastle United let slip a two-goal lead at home to fourth-placed Chelsea to draw 2-2 while Burnley ended a seven-match losing streak with a late equaliser at Bournemouth. 

Bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers lost 2-0 at home to Brentford - their 10th successive league defeat, meaning they have failed to win any of their first 17 games, matching the record set by Sheffield United in 2020-21.

Haaland's double means he has topped former Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo's Premier League goals tally in less than ‌half the time, while City have now won seven successive games in all competitions and are beginning to display the sort of consistency ‌that was a feature of Pep Guardiola's title-winning sides.

City are on 37 points after 17 games, while Arsenal, with 36 points, were facing Everton away later.

City stamped their authority early on with Haaland firing home at the second attempt after his initial effort was parried by Alphonse Areola. Tijjani Reijnders doubled City's lead in the 38th minute with Haaland assisting.

Haaland sealed the win in the 69th minute with an easy tap-in after some woeful West Ham defending for his 104th league goal for City. The 25-year-old's 104 goals have come in 114 games with Ronaldo's 103 coming from