With the pressure off, Manchester City breezed to a one-sided 4-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday as it kept their Premier League its hopes flickering.
Kevin De Bruyne netted on his return from injury as City eased to victory at Bournemouth but remains some distance below leader Leicester City, whose lead could be trimmed to two points if Tottenham Hotspur wins at Liverpool later on Saturday. Leicester hosts Southampton on Sunday. >Bournemouth 0 Man City 4
West Ham United dropped points in the race for Champions League qualification after Cheikhou Kouyate was sent off in a 2-2 home draw against London rivals Crystal Palace. >West Ham 2 Crystal Palace 2
Meanwhile, Newcastle United was left six points adrift of safety after Martin Olsson’s dramatic 93rd-minute goal earned Norwich City a potentially pivotal 3-2 win in a relegation tussle at Carrow Road. >Norwich 3 Newcastle 2
City had a straightforward afternoon at Dean Court as Manuel Pellegrini’s men tuned up for its mid-week trip to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals by steamrollering Bournemouth.
Fernando opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a neat finish from a Jesus Navas corner before De Bruyne — back in the team after two months out with a knee problem — volleyed home sweetly from David Silva’s flick.
Sergio Aguero added a third goal in the 19th minute with a header from Navas’s cross before Aleksandar Kolarov slammed home a fine fourth in stoppage time.
City trails Leicester by 12 points, with Arsenal four points better off in third place.
West Ham is now three points below City in fifth after dropping points against Palace, which went ahead through Damien Delaney’s 15th-minute header.
Manuel Lanzini swiftly equalised before Dimitri Payet put West Ham ahead with another sublime free-kick, but Kouyate was then contentiously dismissed for a high foot on Dwight Gayle, who netted Palace’s equaliser.
Rafael Benitez’s mission to steer Newcastle to safety received a serious setback at Carrow Road.
Twice Norwich went ahead, through Timm Klose’s header and Dieumerci Mbokani’s rasping strike, only for substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic to equalise on each occasion, the second time with an 86th-minute penalty. >Stoke 2 Swansea 2
But deep into added time Olsson drove home from Jonny Howson’s lay-off to earn Alex Neil’s men a vital victory.
Newcastle is now six points below Norwich, albeit with a game in hand, while north-east rivals Sunderland is two points above it after drawing 0-0 at home to West Bromwich Albion. >Sunderland 0 West Brom 0
In the day’s remaining game, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alberto Paloschi scored as Swansea City came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Stoke City.
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