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30 GABRIEL Jesus scored twice to end his Premier League goal drought as Manchester City saw off Everton to return to the top of the table. Pep Guardiola's side will stay at the top for at least another day, with Liverpool needing to beat Manchester United at Anfield today to reclaim their place at the summit. Raheem Sterling came off the bench to add the hosts' third with his first touch, a week after suffering alleged racial abuse during City's defeat at Chelsea. This victory, City's 10th league win in a row at home, was rarely in serious doubt once Jesus had fired his side ahead on a bitterly cold day at Etihad Stadium. Yerry Mina's misplaced pass allowed Ilkay Gundogan to find Leroy Sane in space, and he sent Jesus galloping into the area to score with a fine low finish. It was the Brazilian's first league goal since August - a run of 11 games and 487 minutes without finding the net - but he only had to wait another 28 minutes for his second of the game. When it arrived just after half-time, Sane was the provid- er again - with Jesus meeting his precise cross to plant an un- stoppable header past Toffees keeper Jordan Pickford. City looked in complete con- trol but Everton gave them- selves hope just after the hour when Dominic Calvert Lewin met Lucas Digne's cross to re- duce the deficit. The visitors were only briefly back in it, however, with sub- stitute Sterling heading in Fer- nandinho's cross four minutes later. It was enough to ensure City, whose loss at Stamford Bridge last weekend was their first in the league this season, are back in a familiar position at the top. Kevin de Bruyne, back from a knee injury that has kept him out of action since the 1st of November, also came off the bench before the end to give the home fans further reason to cheer. LIVERPOOL may be top of the Premier League but Manchester United manag- er Jose Mourinho said that it is trophies in the cabinet that count ahead of the sides' showdown at Anfield on Sunday. Klopp's side remain the only unbeaten team in the league this season, but the German has yet to clinch an honour in his three years on Merseyside. United languish 16 points behind their rivals in sixth place, but Mourinho led the Old Trafford outfit to Europa League and League Cup victories in his first season in Manchester in 2017. "I think trophies matter, it matters, especially when you have the potential to fight for trophies and especially when you clearly say the objective is to win the trophy," the Portuguese told a news conference on Friday. "I think Jurgen told already they want to win the Premier League, is their ob- jective," he added. United travel to their rivals with a de- pleted squad after their injury list grew in their 2-1 defeat by Valencia in the Champions League on Wednesday. Marcos Rojo was forced off at half- time, joining the likes of Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez on the sidelines. Defenders Luke Shaw, Chris Smalling, Matteo Darmian and attacker Anthony Martial were all due to be assessed in training on Friday having missed the trip to Spain. Yet the manager has said that Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young are all set to start at Anfield. United's last two trips to Anfield have resulted in goalless draws after Mour- inho adopted an ultra cautious ap- proach, yet the Portuguese said his side are capable of fighting for victory de- spite their injuries. "We know that we are going to play against the leaders, against a team on a high, but we have our qualities, we have our potential," he said. "Even with the problems we have and the doubts in terms of team choice, of tactics, approach, philosophy, we have doubts about everything. "We are going to arrive with the play- ers we have available and going to have a team capable of going there and fight for the victory." Liverpool are looking to pick up a sixth successive victory in the league. However, Klopp has yet to get the bet- ter of Mourinho's United having not beaten them since the Portuguese took charge in 2016, drawing three and los- ing once. The fixture is never short of drama and Mourinho usually enjoys the big oc- casion as an underdog, as he showed in last month's impressive 2-1 victory over Juventus in Turin. maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 DECEMBER 2018 SPORTS FOOTBALL Manchester City return to winning ways Trophies matter, insists Jose Mourinho ahead of Liverpool clash Gabriel Jesus waves to the crowd after scoring for Manchester City Jose Mourinho usually enjoys the big occasion as an underdog