Manchester City returned with a swagger from the international break Saturday, resuming its quest for four trophies with another dominant 2-0 win at Fulham that thrust it back to the top of the Premier League. On the afternoon that Huddersfield Town was relegated and Manchester United celebrated the full-time managerial appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a 2-1 win over Watford, City again demonstrated why it remains the league's benchmark. Bernardo Silva scored for the third game in a row and Sergio Aguero extended his league-leading tally to 19 in a dazzling early spell, allowing the champions to ease to a seventh straight league victory while never hitting the heights. It restored City's advantage at the top, one point ahead of Liverpool on 77 points with both sides having played 31 games, but Juergen Klopp's men could return to the summit with a win over third-placed Tottenham Hotspur Sunday. Still, City, which has won the League Cup and is in the FA Cup semifinals and Champions League quarterfinals, moved closer to an unprecedented, if still unlikely, feat with 14 matches left. Without seemingly having broken stride, Manchester City's cosmopolitan crew reconvened after the international break and looked as if it had never been apart as soon as Bernardo Silva arrowed in a left-footed strike within five minutes. Manchester United moved into fourth place, level with Tottenham Hotspur on 61 points having played a game more, as Solskjaer got his permanent reign off to a winning start with victory over unfortunate Watford. Goals from Marcus Rashford and Antony Martial secured United's win, even though this was far from their most convincing performance under the Norwegian as Watford deserved more for their enterprise than a late Abdoulaye Doucoure consolation. Still, the win lifted United above Arsenal, which hosts Newcastle United Monday. At the other end of the table, as 19th-placed Fulham's defeat left it a step closer to what looks certain relegation, Huddersfield's even more inevitable demotion to the Championship was confirmed with a 2-0 defeat at Crystal Palace. The Terriers became only the second team in the Premier League era to be relegated before the end of March as goals from Luka Milivojevic and Patrick van Aanholt, combined with other results, left them 19 points from safety with six games left. Wins for 17th-placed Burnley, 2-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers, and 16th-placed Southampton, 1-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion, ensured Huddersfield's fate was sealed as it matched Derby County's record, set in 2008, for the earliest relegation from the Premier League after 32 games. Leicester City marked an emotional day for the club on what would have been the birthday of its late owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter accident in October, by beating Bournemouth 2-0 at the King Power Stadium. On the day he would have turned 61, his image was flashed up on the big screen along with the words "Always in our hearts" before the match and, in the 61st minute, the fans rose to applaud his memory, singing "Vichai had a dream". West Ham United hosts Everton in the day's late kickoff. — Reuters
