MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland scored his 20th goal in just 13 games this season as Manchester City routed Southampton 4-0 to lead the English Premier League on Saturday.
Haaland extended his scoring streak to 10 straight games in all competitions by netting the fourth goal in the 65th minute for City.
Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez had already scored by the time the Norwegian, who earlier hit the woodwork and spurned a handful of other chances, finally found the net in the second half for his 15th league goal.
City is two points ahead of Arsenal, which can reclaim the lead with a win over Liverpool on Sunday.
Southampton has lost four straight games and manager Ralph Hasenhuttl is facing increasing pressure after another disappointing performance.
Haaland missed his first good opportunity when he raced through and collected a pass from Foden but his shot struck the inside of the post. Southampton didn't hold out much longer as Cancelo charged through the visitors' defense to open the scoring with a thunderous shot.
Haaland’s next attempt was blocked by Che Adams but Kevin de Bruyne registered his 94th league assist — a new club record — as he slipped the ball into the box for Foden to finish with an exquisite lob.
In another high-quality City move, Mahrez claimed the third on 50 minutes with a left-footed volley from a tight angle on the right after Rodri lofted the ball into the box.
Haaland then shot just wide before unexpectedly failing to make contact with a ball from De Bruyne across the six-yard line. Haaland was then played in by De Bruyne again only for Bazunu to get to the ball first.
But Haaland was typically in the right place to turn home a square pass from Cancelo from close range after the Portuguese linked with De Bruyne.
___
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
