By Lori Ewing
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Nottingham Forest maintained their Champions League push with a comfortable 4-2 win at Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Saturday, while Manchester City could only muster a 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion in a blow to their hopes.
Everton stretched their unbeaten league run to nine games with a 1-1 draw against West Ham United in the ‘David Moyes Derby’, while Wolverhampton Wanderers beat bottom side Southampton 2-1 to take a giant step towards Premier League survival.
Anthony Elanga struck twice for Forest, who consolidated third place in the table on 54 points, five ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea, who have a game in hand and visit second-placed Arsenal on Sunday, and six points ahead of holders City, whose draw left them fifth.
Forest, who were involved in relegation battles in the last two seasons, struck three times in a frantic seven-minute spell in the first half, kicked off by defender Nikola Milenkovic who scored with a fierce, rising volley from close range.
Elanga netted a curling effort two minutes later, and then immediately doubled his tally when he latched onto a long ball from Milenkovic and squeezed his shot under goalkeeper Alex Palmer.
“Yeah, we got this moment right,” Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo said. “We got Ipswich unbalanced and we took advantage of it.”
Jens Cajuste pulled one back for Ipswich in the 82nd minute to briefly give home fans hope, but Forest’s Jota Silva quickly crushed it with a goal five minutes later, before George Hirst claimed a consolation for Ipswich in added time.
“Ipswich were always going to react, important that we got the fourth goal, that really put the game to bed in that moment,” Espirito Santo said.
Neither holders Manchester City nor Brighton & Hove Albion were happy to draw in what was a battle of Champions League contenders.
Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush struck for Pep Guardiola’s men, either side of a goal for Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan, while Brighton equalised for the second time with a second-half own goal by City defender Abdukodir Khusanov.
‘VERY DISAPPOINTED’
“I feel personally very disappointed,” City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said. “After getting twice in front and actually playing quite well. It’s a bit frustrating to not get the three points.”
Haaland struck from the penalty spot in the 11th minute for his 21st league goal of the season, awarded after Marmoush was brought down by Adam Webster.
Estupinan levelled 10 minutes later when he caught goalkeeper Stefan Ortega flat-footed with a brilliant free kick from 22 yards out that flew in off the post.
City reclaimed the lead through Marmoush’s 39th-minute goal, with Gundogan laying the ball off for the Egyptian who unleashed a blistering shot into the net.
Khusanov’s attempt to clear Webster’s header from a corner soon after the interval drew the visitors level once again.
“I came from the locker room and it’s a disappointing feeling,” Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler said. “We deserved to win. We had big chances, especially in the second half.”
At Goodison Park, Everton’s Jake O’Brien headed a last-gasp equaliser to salvage a draw after Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek had put the Hammers ahead in the 67th with a curling shot to the bottom-right corner.
Saturday was the first game between the clubs since manager Moyes returned to Everton, the team he had led from 2002-13, in January after leaving West Ham at the end of last season.
“Brilliant character,” Moyes said of his team’s late goal. “And deserved in the end. We’re on nine unbeaten now at the moment, and if you’d given me that at the start I’d have said all day long.”
The draw left both sides level on 34 points, with Everton two places ahead of the Hammers in 14th.
Wolves beat Southampton thanks to a clinical double from Jorgen Strand Larsen, to lift the 17th-placed side nine points clear of 18th-placed Ipswich Town.
Southampton look destined for the drop with just nine points after 29 games after a ninth straight defeat at home as they walked off to loud boos from the home support.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.