Marmoush’s ‘trick’ stuns Newcastle; Arsenal ride on Merino’s brace

LONDON: Manchester City’s new signing Omar Marmoush bagged a hat-trick in 13 first-half minutes in a 4-0 rout of Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday, making an emphatic statement in his first start since arriving at the club last month.

James McAtee added a late strike for Pep Guardiola’s side who climbed to fourth place in the standings on 44 points, while Newcastle slipped to seventh on 41.

The 26-year-old Marmoush gave the hosts the lead in the 19th minute when City goalkeeper Ederson launched a long pass that defender Kieran Trippier misjudged and the Egyptian lobbed the ball over the onrushing Martin Dubravka.

Marmoush doubled his tally five minutes later when he latched onto a pass from Ilkay Gundogan before firing in a low shot that took a slight deflection off Trippier.

The striker completed his hat-trick in the 33rd when Savinho found him with acres of space for a blistering shot from 12 yards out.

Midfielder Mikel Merino scored two late goals to keep Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes alive with a 2-0 victory at Leicester City, after the Spaniard was thrust into a makeshift centre-forward role by his club’s injury crisis up front.

Arsenal moved to 53 points from 25 matches, four behind leaders Liverpool, having played a game more, while Leicester remain in the relegation zone with 17 points from their 25 fixtures this season.

Substitute Merino rose to head in teenager Ethan Nwaneri’s cross from the right in the 81st minute, before tapping home unmarked at the back post when Leandro Trossard’s inviting ball picked him out six minutes later.

Arsenal are unbeaten in 15 league games, winning 10 of those, their best run since they went 16 without a defeat in the 2010-11 campaign when Arsene Wenger was in charge.

Leicester have now gone 17 league games since they last kept a clean sheet and there were muted fan protests in the 14th minute of the game, and outside the stadium beforehand, that appeared to be aimed at director of football Jon Rudkin.

Chances were few and far between in the first half, and two of the best fell to Leicester midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.

His volley from the edge of the area was straight at Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, before he flashed a header just wide of the post as the half drew to a close.

Arsenal dominated possession at the start of the second half and began to have more touches in the Leicester box. The excellent Nwaneri saw his shot from the edge of the penalty area skim off the top of the crossbar.

With the scoreline still at 0-0, Leicester’s Bobby De Cordova-Reid looked to have a tap-in at the back post from Jordan Ayew’s low cross, but Myles Lewis-Skelly got a vital touch in the nick of time.

Arsenal’s frustrating afternoon continued when Rice fed Nwaneri, who drove into the box and unleashed a powerful shot that cannoned back off the post.

But they finally found their winning goals from Merino, who may find himself in the striker role much more often by the end of the season with Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka all long-term injury absentees.

A Liam Delap goal helped Ipswich Town overcome a red card for Axel Tuanzebe as they grabbed a 1-1 draw away to Aston Villa, with Ollie Watkins netting a 69th-minute equalizer for the home side.

With keeper Alex Palmer putting in a brilliant performance between the posts, the point leaves Ipswich still in the relegation zone in 18th place on 17 points, two behind Wolverhampton Wanderers, while Villa slip to ninth on 38 points.

Both sides were forced into early changes as Aston Villa defender Boubacar Kamara was replaced by Tyrone Mings and Ipswich lost winger Julio Enciso, with Jack Clarke coming on to take his place.

It took until the 25th minute before Ipswich’s Kalvin Phillips registered the game’s first shot in target.

Villa looked the more dangerous of the two sides and they should have gone ahead when Ollie Watkins got in behind the defence in the 34th minute, but under pressure from Dara O’Shea he dragged his left-foot shot wide of the far post.

Ipswich defender Tuanzebe saw red six minutes later when he picked up his second yellow card for dragging down Youri Tielemans just outside the box, seemingly leaving his teammates with a mountain to climb.

However, the muscular Delap tore up that script and scored with a deft first-time finish from Omari Hutchinson’s cross 11 minutes into the second half to give the Tractor Boys a shock lead.

Marcus Rashford, who came off the bench at half-time, smacked a powerful free-kick off the crossbar and Watkins did superbly to react quickest and steer the ball into the net.

That was the only blemish on the performance of Palmer in the Ipswich goal, and he proceed to pull off a string of brilliant saves to ensure that his side left Villa Park with a point.

Dango Ouattara, Ryan Christie and Marcus Tavernier were all on the scoresheet as Bournemouth comfortably beat relegation-threatened Southampton 3-1 at St Mary’s Stadium.

Bournemouth moved up to fifth in the standings with 43 points from 25 matches, while Southampton remain bottom with nine points.

Kevin Schade’s early goal gave Brentford a 1-0 victory at West Ham United after the hosts recovered from a woeful first half but were unable to find an equalizer.

Fulham put a dent in Nottingham Forest’s Premier League top-four aspirations as defender Calvin Bassey’s first goal of the season sealed a deserved 2-1 home win for the London club.

Everton’s Premier League revival under manager David Moyes continued on Saturday as they beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park thanks to a late winner from January loan signing Carlos Alcaraz. Agencies

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