Haaland hat-trick as champions City fight back against Crystal Palace

STATS Perform/dpa LondonErling Haaland’s scored a hat-trick as Manchester City once again fought back from two down, beating Crystal Palace 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.Pep Guardiola’s men found themselves trailing by two goals for the fourth time in six Premier League matches, but they stormed back to defeat Palace.Eberechi Eze had a role in both goals as Palace raced into a 2-0 lead thanks to John Stones’ own goal and Joachim Andersen’s bullet header, leaving a blunt City side stunned at the interval.But the excellent Bernardo Silva began the comeback by halving the deficit just after half-time before Haaland took over, completing the turnaround with a pair of poacher’s finishes and a third clinical strike for the champions.City had an uphill task early on, as Eze’s free-kick delivery deflected off Kyle Walker and found its way in off Stones.The hosts’ response was hardly emphatic, and they found themselves two down by the 21st minute for the first time in the league since December 2010.Another Eze set-piece - this time a corner - teed up a powerful header into the bottom-left corner from Andersen, who easily evaded Walker.Silva looked City’s biggest threat and was unsurprisingly the one to pull a goal back in the 53rd minute, cutting in from the right and seeing a low strike flicked past Guaita by Jeffrey Schlupp.City levelled just past the hour as Haaland beat his marker to head Phil Foden’s cross in from close range, before then putting them in front with a tap-in 20 minutes from time. He slotted past Guaita to complete his hat-trick and cap a fine second-half City display after brilliantly holding off his marker.Sterling bags brace as 10-man Chelsea fend off Leicester Raheem Sterling’s first two Chelsea goals proved decisive as the 10-man Blues edged out Leicester City 2-1.The former Manchester City forward opened his account at Stamford Bridge with a second-half brace to get Chelsea back to winning ways in the Premier League.Thomas Tuchel - who served a touchline ban and watched this game from the stands - had seen his side beaten 3-0 at Leeds United last week, and they looked to be in for another tough day when Conor Gallagher was sent off.However, Leicester’s latest poor display saw them slump to a third defeat in four league games, only replying through Harvey Barnes after Sterling had struck twice.Chelsea made a promising start but had their penalty award overturned following a VAR review as Kai Havertz had strayed offside before Youri Tielemans bundled over Loftus-Cheek, who was earlier denied by Danny Ward.The hosts were reduced to 10 men just before the half-hour mark as Gallagher earned two yellow cards in little over six minutes, the second for a foul on Barnes.Leicester thought they had snatched the lead when Daniel Amartey prodded in, but the goal was disallowed after Barnes fouled Edouard Mendy, while Reece James rattled the post at the other end.It was Chelsea who were in front within two minutes of the second half as Sterling’s 20-yard effort looped over Ward via a deflection off Amartey.Sterling was denied by the post soon after, but he did double his tally in the 63rd minute, touching in James’ low cross from the right.Leicester responded three minutes later as Barnes fired past Mendy at his near post, yet they then missed a flurry of chances to equalise, with Ayoze Perez going closest as he hit the underside of the crossbar.Premier League Saturday Results: Southampton 0 Manchester United 1; Brighton 1 Leeds United 0; Brentford 1 Everton 1; Chelsea 2 Leicester City 1; Liverpool 9 Bournemouth 0; Manchester City 4 Crystal Palace 2; Arsenal 2 Fulham 1; Sunday Fixtures: Aston Villa vs West Ham United; Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest.