Haaland back with a bang

Erling Haaland returned from injury to clinch Manchester City's victory at Tottenham as the troubled champions moved into fourth place.

Haaland had missed City's previous two defeats against Real Madrid and Liverpool with a knee injury suffered against Newcastle on February 15.

The Norway star showed no rust with the first-half winner in north London as City climbed one point above fifth-placed Chelsea.

It was Haaland's 28th goal in all competitions this season, with 10 of those coming in his last 11 games to silence the critics after a barren spell earlier this season.

After four defeats in their last six games in all competitions, this was a much-needed victory for City, who started strongly but rode their luck as Tottenham missed a series of second-half chances.

"Of course it's never nice to be injured and not play but it's about staying positive. We can only do things about the present. Today was all about winning," Haaland said.

Harry Maguire earned Manchester United a hard-fought win at Old Trafford, easing Patrick Dorgu's embarrassment after his part in a calamitous Ipswich opener was compounded by a first-half red card.

Maguire's second-half header ended United's three-match winless run in the league and lifted a little of the gloom after Monday's announcement of a second round of redundancies at the club.

Ruben Amorim secured just his fifth league win as United boss despite a disastrous mix up between Dorgu and keeper Andre Onana that gifted Jaden Philogene an early goal.

Sam Morsy's own goal and a Matthijs de Ligt effort had put United ahead before Dorgu's night got worse, with the 20-year-old's high challenge on Omari Hutchinson earning a red card following a VAR review.

Philogene's cross snuck home in first-half stoppage time, but Maguire headed in from a Bruno Fernandes corner to dent third-bottom Ipswich's survival hopes.

Jake O'Brien's first Everton goal stretched their unbeaten run to seven league matches after a 1-1 draw at Brentford.

AFP