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maltatoday SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER 2017 53 FOOTBALL Sports Manchester City score seven to destroy Stoke City and top table in style MANCHESTER City opened up a two-point lead over their neigh- bours Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Sat- urday thanks to another display of scintillating brilliance in a 7-2 thrashing of Stoke City at the Eti- had Stadium. After the earlier high noon showdown between Liverpool and a United side lacking in any great ambition ended in goalless stalemate at Anfield, City cashed in with a third straight league match at the Etihad in which they have struck at least five goals. Pep Guardiola's men became the first team to net 29 goals in their first eight league games of a top- f light campaign in England since Everton 1894-95. Their sixth consecutive league win moved them to 22 points with United on 20 and Tottenham Hotspur maintaining third posi- tion on 17 after finally earning their first home win at Wembley Stadium, 1-0 over Bournemouth. Sensation of the day came at Sel- hurst Park where Crystal Palace, hitherto without a goal and point to their name, downed champi- ons Chelsea 2-1 with Wilfried Zaha, returning from injury, their hero thanks to a brilliant goal just before the break. Palace's new manager Roy Hodgson celebrated his first win in charge but the defeat left Chel- sea nine points behind leaders City, who are playing a brand of kaleidoscopic football at the mo- ment. Gabriel Jesus, with a brace, Ra- heem Sterling, David Silva, Fer- nandinho, Leroy Sane and Ber- nardo Silva all found the target in the demolition of Stoke. Yet the orchestrator of the tri- umph did not even trouble the scorers, Kevin de Bruyne again the man of the match. Their dazzle was a stark con- trast to their neighbours' negativ- ity in the underwhelming Anfield game which the only Manches- ter United highlight was David de Gea's great save to deny Joel Matip. Liverpool, despite being much the better side, were blunt in at- tack, failing to convert any of their 19 attempts on goal. "Manchester United came here for a point and got it," said Liver- pool manager Juergen Klopp with a sigh. "It was a good performance, I thought worthy of three points. We were unlucky in at least two, maybe three situations." Chris Wood earned an 85th- minute equaliser for Burnley in a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man West Ham United, who had Andy Car- roll sent off in the 27th minute af- ter a couple of elbowing offences earned him two yellow cards. Swansea City forged clear of the relegation zone with only their second league win of the season, a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town. Leroy Sane got in on the act Lazio end Juve's long home run as Dybala misses penalty LAZIO ended Juventus's two- year unbeaten home record in all competitions with a 2-1 win after Paulo Dybala missed a stoppage-time penalty awarded with the help of the video assis- tant yesterday. Ciro Immobile scored twice early in the second half for Lazio, the second goal a penalty, after Douglas Costa had given the champions a halftime lead. Juve's last home defeat was against Udinese in August, 2015 and they have since been un- beaten at their own stadium for 57 matches, including 41 in Se- rie A. There was extraordinary dra- ma in stoppage time when Dy- bala hit the foot of the post and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon prevented Felipe Caicedo from making it 3-1 at the other end. Then, with four minutes of added time played, Gil Patric clattered into Federico Bernard- eschi and, although he touched the ball, he also raised his leg and upended the Juventus player. The tackle led to scuff les be- tween players while referee Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni con- sulted the video assistant before awarding a penalty amid furious Lazio protests. However, Dybala's effort with the last kick of the match was brilliantly saved by Thomas Strakosha. Juve's first league defeat of the season left them on 19 points from eight games, two behind leaders Napoli who were away to AS Roma later on Saturday. Costa put Juventus ahead in the 23rd minute from a rebound after Strakosha parried Sami Khedira's header, the goal being confirmed after the referee con- sulted the VAR. Juventus nearly got another in an odd incident when Stra- kosha's clearance off his line hit Gonzalo Higuain and re- bounded on to the crossbar from point-blank range. Immobile levelled two minutes into the second half after a one- two with Luis Alberto, then won and converted a penalty seven minutes later, after he was up- ended by Buffon, for his eleventh league goal of the season. Lazio's Thomas Strakosha and team mates celebrate after the Juventus' Paulo Dybala looks dejected