Man City, Man United rediscover old selves in EPL wins

Manchester City finally rediscovered the kind of football that made it Premier League champion, just in time for this week's crucial top-of-the-table clash against Liverpool.

Paul Pogba and Manchester United are finally looking like their old selves, too, although whether there's still time to launch a challenge for the Champions League spots remains to be seen.

City beat Southampton 3-1 on Sunday to end a run of two straight losses — and three defeats in four matches — while United overpowered Bournemouth 4-1 to continue its resurgence under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Chelsea also held on for a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace to strengthen its grip on four place, while Burnley ended a three-match losing streak with a 2-0 home victory over West Ham.

City's title defense had looked in danger of collapsing completely during the busy festive period after surprising losses to Palace and Leicester, but Pep Guardiola's team found its attacking verve at Southampton thanks to two quick goals just before halftime. David Silva and Sergio Aguero scored for the visitors, who also benefited from a fortunate own-goal by James Ward-Prowse.

Mario Lemina of Southampton FC (right) takes on Man Citys Vincent Kompany (left) during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Manchester City at St Mary's Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Southampton, United Kingdom. [Photo: VCG]

The win puts City back into second place, two points ahead of Tottenham but still seven behind leader Liverpool ahead of the Reds' highly anticipated visit to the Etihad on Thursday.

And according to Guardiola, the title race could be over after that game unless City wins.

"With the position of Liverpool, if we drop points then it is over, it is finished. It would be almost impossible," Guardiola said. "We are not here to send a message, Liverpool know what they have to do, we know what we have to do on Thursday."

For Pogba and United, the race for a top-four spot is only now starting to build up some steam.

Pogba scored two goals and added an assist as United put in another impressive attacking display under Solskjaer, who now has three straight wins since taking over from the fired Jose Mourinho — with the team netting 12 goals in that span.