Erling Haaland scored twice to settle Manchester City’s nerves as the Premier League champions beat Tottenham 2-0 to take a giant step towards a historic fourth straight English title on Tuesday.
The Norwegian forward tapped home a pinpoint Kevin De Bruyne cross early in the second half to score City’s first-ever league goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
And he netted a late penalty to seal the three points for the visitors, minutes after substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega saved brilliantly from Son Heung-min.
The win takes Pep Guardiola’s team two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.
Victory at the Etihad against West Ham on Sunday will make them champions for a fourth consecutive season, regardless of the Gunners’ result against Everton.
No team in English top-flight history has ever won four titles in a row.
Defeat for Spurs also guarantees that Aston Villa will finish in the fourth Champions League spot, joining City, Arsenal and Liverpool in Europe’s top-tier competition next season.
But City defender Kyle Walker warned the job was not done yet.
“We prepare, we recover and West Ham is another final and hopefully we can go and make history for this great club,” he told Sky Sports.
“It is not job done by a million miles. Hopefully, we can get the win.
If I didn’t enjoy the pressure, I would be in the wrong job and the wrong team.
“Last night, I couldn’t sleep.
They tried to set fireworks off but we weren’t there, they missed us.
I can’t describe the feeling when we went 2-0 up.”
The build-up to the game in north London was dominated by a fierce debate over whether home fans wanted their own team to lose in order to leave City in the driving seat, with Arsenal their nearest challengers.