EPL: Manchester United stun City in epic comeback; Liverpool draw Everton
A victory for City would have seen them champions, but Mourinho's red devils managed to halt their celebrations for a while, winning the derby 3-2.
Manchester United turned the match's head around its head in the second half after going 2-0 down in the first 45 minutes, but boy oh boy, did Jose Mourinho's Red Devils returned in a classic manner to win the derby. With the help of Paul Pogba's brace in a span of two minutes and Chris Smalling's winner in the 69th minute, United defeated City in their backyard to win the Manchester derby 3-2.
Pep Guardiola's City were cruising comfortably in the first half after defender Vincent Kompany and midfielder Ilkay Gundogan's goals in the 25th and 30th minute respectively.
However, after the second half, the pep talk inside United's dressing room must have worked as the Reds came out dominating possession and Pogba was available to score two goals in two minutes. Sanchez's cross saw Smalling head in the ball to give the visitors the winner at the Etihad.
A victory for City would have seen them champions, but Mourinho managed to halt their celebrations for a while. Pep's side saw Gundogan and substitute Raheem Sterling miss plenty of chances which proved to be quite costly as United completed the comeback in fashionable style.
EVERTON AGITATE LIVERPOOL
Everton wasted late chances in the 231st Merseyside derby on Saturday to draw 0-0 against Liverpool at Goodison Park in the Premier League.
Liverpool striker Danny Ings was handed his first start as Juergen Klopp named a stronger lineup than anticipated.
Ings was part of a front three including Sadio Mane and Dominic Solanke, with Mohamed Salah (groin) not risked ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal second leg at Manchester City, with Liverpool leading 3-0.
Despite a late rally in which Seamus Coleman and substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin could have snatched victory, the Toffees' 7 1/2-year wait for a derby win was extended to 17 matches.
Solanke, on his first start since New Year's Day, should have scored his first Liverpool goal when Coleman diverted a cross from Nathaniel Clyne, making his first appearance of the season, into his path but he shot straight at Jordan Pickford.
Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius produced an even better save to tip Yannick Bolasie's curling shot around the post before Pickford did the same to deny James Milner.
Wayne Rooney was replaced by the more defensively minded Idrissa Gana Gueye 10 minutes into the second half but it was not until the last 15 minutes that midtable Everton came alive.
Coleman failed to connect with Cenk Tosun's header back across goal after Theo Walcott finally beat Klavan one-on-one and Calvert-Lewin steered wide with only Karius to beat.
Liverpool is third with 67 points.
ERIKSEN'S BRACE GIVES SPURS A WIN
Christian Eriksen scored twice as Tottenham edged closer to securing a return to the Champions League by beating Stoke 2-1 in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Eriksen broke the deadlock in the second half before scoring direct from a free kick which appeared to just evade Harry Kane's head, preventing the Tottenham striker from claiming a 36th goal of the season and moving four behind league leading scorer Mohamed Salah.
In between, Stoke levelled through Mame Diouf, but the loss meant they are four points from safety with five games to go.
Holding the fourth Champions League place, Tottenham moved 11 points ahead of Chelsea, which plays West Ham on Sunday.
Paul Lambert insisted he would pay little attention to the previous four thrashings Tottenham inflicted on Mark Hughes' Stoke as he set his side up differently.
That was evident when Hughes kept faith with the starting XI that lost to Arsenal 3-0 last weekend with Diouf, who overcame a calf problem to start, blazing a good opportunity over early on.
Tottenham had been sluggish to start against Chelsea last weekend and the visitor was struggling for momentum here, too, until Son Heung-min was sent through one on one by Dele Alli. The South Korean bore down on goal only for goalkeeper Jack Butland to rush out and smother his attempt with the half's biggest chance.
The Potters had been typically spirited and that inspired a crowd that needed no encouragement to jeer Danny Rose for his part in a Ryan Shawcross dismissal in 2014.
Yet the majority of the crowd was silenced seven minutes into the second half when Eriksen scored.
Mousa Dembele's pass released Alli down the right and he neglected passing to Kane, instead biding his time for Eriksen to break into the box and sweep home the opener.
In previous four meetings with Spurs, each of which it lost by a four-goal margin, Stoke folded after conceding first. But it levelled within five minutes here.
Xherdan Shaqiri's first real involvement was to curl a pass behind the defense that Diouf chased, with Hugo Lloris' clearance cannoning off the Senegalese and back into his path to allow him to roll into an empty net.
The Stoke forward fell to the floor with an injury sustained challenging Lloris but, crucially for his team, he had been upright long enough to score the goal.
Spurs would soon restore their lead, though the identity of their scorer was no clearer from multiple replays.
The Stoke defenders were not close to Kane from Eriksen's free kick, which was curled into the bottom corner.
Stoke, who had seen Kane score eight times against them in their previous four games against Spurs, hit the crossbar through a Shaqiri free kick but was unable to get another equalizer and it remains in deep trouble.
(With AP Inputs)