Erling Haaland returned from injury to keep Manchester City’s title charge on track as Pep Guardiola’s side secured a 2-0 victory over relegation-battling Nottingham Forest.

Josko Gvardiol’s near-post header was all that separated the two sides at half-time as he fired City in front from a Kevin De Bruyne corner.

Forest were left to rue big opportunities missed in the opening 45 minutes, with Chris Wood and Murillo both having gilt-edged chances to find an equaliser at the City Ground.

But Guardiola, overseeing his 300th Premier League game as City boss, called upon Haaland in the second half, and the Norway international duly delivered to double City’s lead and nudge the reigning champions back to within a point of leaders Arsenal, who beat Tottenham earlier on Sunday.

It was almost a dream opening minute for Forest as Ola Aina’s floated cross to the back post was met by an unmarked Neco Williams, but he failed to connect properly with a close-range shot.

Forest were made to pay when City opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. De Bruyne’s excellent delivery found Gvardiol, who powered a header home at the front post.

Wood should have restored parity shortly after, as he found himself in acres of space when Gonzalo Montiel cut it back on the volley, but the ball got caught up in the striker’s feet with the goal at his mercy.

Forest went agonisingly close again on the stroke of half-time, with Ederson – who was subsequently taken off at the break – fortunate not to concede after he failed to deal with Callum Hudson-Odoi’s corner, but Murillo could not apply the finish a few yards out.

Wood saw another huge chance pass by early in the second half, but his close-range effort was blocked after some excellent work from Anthony Elanga down the left.

De Bruyne showed his creative spark once again as he slotted a throughball behind the Forest defence in the 63rd minute, but Julian Alvarez’s effort from the edge of the area flew into the stands behind the goal.

Matz Sels was called into action moments later, palming behind De Bruyne’s thunderous long-range strike, which was heading for the top-left corner.

But City’s second finally arrived when, in the 71st minute, De Bruyne teed up Haaland, who calmly got the better of his marker, shifted it onto his right foot and slotted into the bottom-left corner to end Forest’s hopes of a comeback.

While City remain hot on Arsenal’s heels, Forest stay just one point above the relegation zone, having lost three of their last four matches.

Guardiola – 300 not out

Sunday marked Guardiola’s 300th Premier League game in charge of Man City, seeing him become the 19th manager to reach this total, and just the fifth to do so for a single club.

Of the 300 games under the Spanish manager’s tutelage, City have won 221, scoring 741 goals in the process, while only conceding 247 times.

City now have a four-point lead over Liverpool, whose title hopes are fading quickly, and an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League crown is certainly on the cards for Guardiola.

Forest’s recurring issues show no sign of abating

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have now conceded 29 first-half goals in 35 league games this season, with only Sheffield United (38) and Burnley (30) having conceded more.

The Tricky Trees – who are one of three teams fighting for 17th place after Everton hauled themselves to safety over the past week – have also conceded 23 goals from set-pieces this term in the competition, at least five more than any other team.

Despite being behind at the break, Forest’s xG of 1.27 was the most by any side in the first half of a game against City this season, in all competitions, with a wastefulness in front of goal another glaring problem that Nuno must fix.

Simone Inzaghi has set and maintained high standards at Inter, so says his Nerazzurri assistant Massimiliano Farris.

Inter clinched their 20th Serie A title by beating fierce rivals Milan in Monday's derby.

That meant that Sunday's home meeting with Torino was something of a celebration for Inter and their fans, and the team delivered with a 2-0 victory.

Hakan Calhanoglu scored both of Inter's goals, and Farris, who spoke to the media instead of his boss, piled the praise on Inzaghi.

In quotes reported by Football Italia, Farris told DAZN: "We've tried to build a positive environment. We lost important players [last summer], but we welcomed important players who made themselves loved.

"Going to the pitch and working this season was a pleasure. We had a lot of fun and it's the players' merit.

"We are Inter, we have great value, and we couldn't afford to lose games like we used to. He's our leader, he kept a high bar in difficult moments.

"Today, we are repaid for everything, and we can enjoy more of what happened in the previous two years. In football, defeats [hurt] more than victories, but now we must enjoy this moment."

With victory over Milan, Inzaghi became the second-fastest coach to reach 600 points in Serie A, after Carlo Ancelotti.

Farris added: "Simone already said it in the previous interviews. We’ve been fighting for every target across the last three years. We have won cups, we reached a Champions League final.

"We are aware that in the first season, we missed something that we could have taken home [the title].

"Perhaps it was the price to pay, as staff members, when you get to a club like this, but I think this season's achievements give value to all other trophies.

"Today's atmosphere was incredible, so good. Ninety minutes and more of celebrations and it was fair to start those who have brought the team here. This doesn't mean the others didn't contribute. On the contrary, everyone was helpful, I should name them all. I wouldn't even call them reserves."

Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.

Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.

The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.

Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Data debrief

With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.

Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.

Carlos Alcaraz boosted his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open title as he comfortably beat Thiago Seyboth Wild to reach the fourth round on Sunday.

Back in his home country of Spain, Alcaraz eased to a 6-3 6-3 triumph to set up a fourth-round clash with Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat in last year's final.

The first six games of the opening set went to serve, but Alcaraz found a crucial break in the seventh and ninth games of the set to put him in pole position for victory, a lead he would not relinquish as he overcame being broken in the seventh game of the second set to seal his safe progression.

Holger Rune was a surprise casualty as the world number 12 was defeated 6-4 4-6 6-3 by Tallon Griekspoor, though world number eight Andrey Rublev eased through with a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Data Debrief

With his triumph over Seyboth Wild at the Madrid Open, Alcaraz has now won 93.3 per cent of his games at the tournament. That is the highest win percentage of any player with at least 10 games played in a single ATP-1000 event since the format was introduced in 1990.

Against Seyboth Wild, Alcaraz won 27 of his 31 first-serve points, also recording 19 winners to his opponent's 10 as he dominated the contest on his way to victory.

James Forrest scored twice as Celtic regained their three-point cushion at the Scottish Premiership summit with a narrow 2-1 victory over Dundee.

Rangers had applied the pressure earlier in the day with a 2-1 win at St Mirren, moving Philippe Clement's side level on points with the Hoops.

Although, Celtic did not twitch with Forrest volleying them ahead on the half-hour mark, before doubling their lead in the 67th minute.

Antonio Portales pulled a goal back for Dundee seven minutes later with his first league strike of the season, but the visitors held on to pull clear at the top once more with five games remaining.

Data debrief

Returning to the starting line-up today, Forrest's double separated the sides as he found the net more than once in a game for the first time since scoring a hat-trick against Hibernian in October 2022.

Celtic have now won their last 10 league matches against Dundee and are unbeaten in 43 meetings overall since a 2-0 defeat in May 2001, only enjoying a longer such streak against Dumbarton (50).

James Forrest scored twice as Celtic regained their three-point cushion at the Scottish Premiership summit with a narrow 2-1 victory over Dundee.

Rangers had applied the pressure earlier in the day with a 2-1 win at St Mirren, moving Philippe Clement's side level on points with the Hoops.

Although, Celtic did not twitch with Forrest volleying them ahead on the half-hour mark, before doubling their lead in the 67th minute.

Antonio Portales pulled a goal back for Dundee seven minutes later with his first league strike of the season, but the visitors held on to pull clear at the top once more with five games remaining.

Data debrief

Returning to the starting line-up today, Forrest's double separated the sides as he found the net more than once in a game for the first time since scoring a hat-trick against Hibernian in October 2022.

Celtic have now won their last 10 league matches against Dundee and are unbeaten in 43 meetings overall since a 2-0 defeat in May 2001, only enjoying a longer such streak against Dumbarton (50).

Already without two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks won’t have Damian Lillard in the lineup for Game 4 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

Lillard played nearly 45 minutes in Milwaukee's 121-118 overtime loss in Game 3 on Friday but was ineffective down the stretch after aggravating a lingering Achilles issue.

The defeat was the second straight in the series for the third-seeded Bucks after defeating No. 6 seed Indiana in Game 1.

Antetokounmpo has not played since straining his left calf on April 9 and remains out Sunday, meaning Milwaukee will be without its two leading scorers as it tries to avoid a 3-1 deficit in the series.

Antetokounmpo averaged 30.4 points this season with Lillard adding 24.3 per game. But with Antetokounmpo sidelined, Lillard averaged 32.3 points in the first three contests against the Pacers to pace Milwaukee.

Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday.

Mikel Arteta was "praying" Arsenal clung on as the Gunners held off a late Tottenham fightback to claim a 3-2 north London derby victory on Sunday.

Arsenal looked to be cruising at 3-0 up after a Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg own-goal put the Gunners ahead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, before Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz extended the visitors' lead.

However, a David Raya mistake allowed Cristian Romero to cut the deficit before a Son Heung-min penalty threw Arsenal's lead into further peril after Declan Rice brought down Ben Davies.

The Gunners held on, though, despite some late pressure, a period in which Arteta conceded he was fearing the worst.

"I was praying," Arteta told reporters. "It was a really emotional game.

"3-0 up you're in control, and then an individual error happens that clicks something. We started to deal with the situation better, but they have the players to put a lot of courage forward."

Along with the derby day spoils, the win extends Arsenal's lead at the Premier League summit to four points, temporarily at least with closest rivals Manchester City taking on Nottingham Forest later on Sunday in the first of their two games in hand over the Gunners.

The destination of the title remains in the hands of Pep Guardiola's City, who overtook Arsenal last term to claim a fifth Premier League title in six seasons last term after the Gunners led for much of the way.

Arteta believes Arsenal are better-equipped this time to go on and win the title, however.

When asked if Arsenal have the ability to go all the way, Arteta replied: "100%.

"I’ve seen that the whole season. They give me reason to believe that every single day. The motivation for what is ahead is beautiful."

Ange Postecoglou admitted "I don't celebrate goals any more" after VAR denied Tottenham during their north London derby defeat by Arsenal.

Spurs were beaten 3-2 by their rivals, who kept their Premier League title challenge on track, despite a late rally having trailed 3-0 at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Trailing 1-0 to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own-goal, the hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven slotted past David Raya, However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.

Arsenal took advantage of their let-off with Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz increasing their lead, while second-half strikes from Cristiano Romero and Heung-Min Son proved academic for Tottenham.

"Games aren’t refereed in the stadium any more," Postecoglou told reporters during his post-match press conference. "I don’t celebrate goals any more.

"You've got to wait for somebody down the road. It’s a shame, I don’t like it, but I’ve got to accept it."

The Spurs boss was pleased with his side's response after the break, and hopes his players will benefit from the disappointment of losing the derby.

"It's a big day for our club and our fans, and we didn't get the outcome we wanted, so it's obviously very disappointing," he added on SpursTalk.

"You can go out in the second half and accept your fate that it's not your day, but we had to show some resilience and fight - just for our supporters more than anything else. To be fair to the lads, they did that.

"We just lacked some focus today in key moments, particularly in the first half. Sometimes, you've got to feel the pain of it to learn that lesson properly."

Elena Rybakina cruised past Mayar Sherif in straight sets to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Open on Sunday.

World number four Rybakina rarely looked like being troubled by Sherif, easing to a 6-1 6-4 triumph, winning 22 of her 26 first-serve points on her way to victory.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion broke Sherif's serve twice in the first set to gain control of the match, before holding her serve five times in the second to ensure victory.

Also into the last 16 in Madrid are Yulia Putintseva and Daria Kasatkina, who beat Caroline Dolehide and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova respectively, both in straight sets. However, world number seven and reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova is out after she was upset by Mirra Andreeva, losing 7-5 6-1.

Data debrief

In reaching the Madrid Open last 16, Rybakina again showed her class on clay. Her victory over Sherif saw her become only the fourth player in the last 10 years to win 14 straight WTA matches on clay, alongside Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek.

Additionally, Rybakina's 475 winners at WTA-1000 events in 2024 are 112 more than the next best, Danielle Collins with 363.

Bukayo Saka saluted Arsenal's fighting spirit as they withstood a late Tottenham revival to claim all three points in the north London derby.

Mikel Arteta's side prevailed 3-2 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to extend their lead at the Premier League summit to four points over second-place Manchester City with three matches remaining, though the Citizens still have two games in hand.

The Gunners surged into a 3-0 lead before half-time with Saka and Kai Havertz on target after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's own-goal broke the deadlock.

The winger's 15th goal of the season - his highest tally during a single term - saw him become the first English player to score home and away for Arsenal against Tottenham in the same Premier League campaign since Ian Wright in 1993-94.

However, the visitors given a late scare with Cristian Romero pouncing on David Raya's error to pull a goal back, before Heung-Min Son's 87th-minute penalty set up a grandstand finish.

Nevertheless, they held on for three points and, though the destiny of the title is out of their hands, their challenge remains very much alive.

"The last 20 minutes weren't nice, but it was worth it," Saka told Sky Sports.

"We know it's a big derby, and they don't want to lose 3-0 at home. Once they got one goal, the crowd were up and the momentum shifted their way. But I'm proud of the boys. We fought until the end, and got the three points.

"We showed our level heads at the end, and I'm proud to get the win. We know what it means to the fans and to us, so we're delighted.

"This is a massive win for us. We've got three [matches] to go, we're going to give it everything. City are an amazing team, but they're not perfect - nobody's perfect, they can drop points. We just need to do our job and see where it leads us."

Arsenal survived a late scare to move four points clear at the Premier League summit following a 3-2 win at rivals Tottenham in Sunday's north London derby.

The Gunners cruised into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to an own goal from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg along with Bukayo Saka's strike and Kai Havertz's header.

Yet a second-half collapse looked to be on the cards when Cristian Romero punished David Raya’s error before Son Heung-min pulled another back from the spot. However, the Gunners ultimately held on.

Arsenal, at least temporarily, tightened their grip on top spot ahead of second-placed Manchester City, who play the first of their two games in hand against Nottingham Forest later on Sunday, while Tottenham remain seven points off the top four in fifth.

The Gunners broke through after 15 minutes when Hojbjerg inadvertently nodded Saka’s inswinging corner beyond Guglielmo Vicario at his near post.

Spurs responded, and after Romero headed against the post, Micky van de Ven thought he had levelled when he slotted home from close range. However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.

Arsenal doubled their lead in the 27th minute following a swift counter that saw Havertz pick out Saka, who cut inside before slotting past Vicario.

Havertz then got in on the act before half-time, heading home Declan Rice’s corner from inside the six-yard box.

Yet an error by Raya gifted Spurs a lifeline after the break, when Romero pounced on the goalkeeper’s poor clearance to reduce the hosts’ arrears.

Matters were made more fraught for the Gunners late on, when a VAR check confirmed a penalty should be awarded to Spurs for Rice’s foul on Ben Davies.

Son lashed a brilliant spot-kick into the left-hand corner, yet a late Spurs onslaught ultimately came to nothing, as the Gunners secured another big win.

Saka shines in the derby limelight

The destiny of the Premier League title may be in Man City’s hands, but Arsenal are still very much in the hunt after a second London derby victory this week.

Mikel Arteta’s side, who thumped Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday, have bounced back brilliantly from their defeat to Aston Villa two weeks ago, scoring 10 goals in three games while conceding just twice.

After his corner led to the opening goal, Saka doubled the lead with his 15th league strike of this term – his most in a single season – while he became the first English player to score home and away for Arsenal against Tottenham in a single campaign since Ian Wright 30 years ago (1993-94).

The damage was effectively done when Havertz headed in the Gunners’ 16th goal from a corner this season, the most in a single campaign since West Bromwich Albion in 2016-17 (also 16), though Arteta will have been concerned by their near slip at the end.

Spurs' struggles on home soil continue

The 195th north London derby culminated in Tottenham losing successive home league games against Arsenal for the first time since 1988.

Despite their best efforts in the second half, it was always going to be difficult to turn things around against the side that has now won all 16 matches when leading at half-time this season.

Now without a win in four meetings against their rivals, they have also tasted success just once in five home outings against the Gunners.

With their own title hopes undented by their rivals, Arsenal will hope Tottenham can instead harm City’s chances when they host them on May 14.

Enes Unal played a crucial role on his full Premier League debut as Bournemouth saw off Brighton 3-0 at the Vitality Stadium.

Having teed up Marcos Senesi’s early opener – the defender’s fourth goal of the season – Unal sent a bullet header into the top-left corner after the break to double Bournemouth’s advantage in Sunday’s south coast derby.

The introduction of Julio Enciso from the bench in the second half saw Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton enjoy more spark in the final third, but the result was put beyond all doubt when Justin Kluivert slammed home late on.

Tenth-placed Bournemouth are now four points clear of Brighton and with Chelsea above them, with their hopes of European football still intact.

The Cherries started brightly, with Unal bursting down the right-hand side before looking to find fellow centre-forward Dominic Solanke, but a goal-saving challenge from Lewis Dunk prevented a certain opener.

Bournemouth kept up the pressure and opened the scoring after just 13 minutes as Senesi pounced in the box from a corner to nod home from just a few yards out after Unal had won the flick-on at the near post.

Brighton grew into it after going behind and had an excellent chance to find an equaliser as Facundo Buonanotte danced through the challenges of the opposition defence inside the box, only to fail to beat Mark Travers.

Andoni Iraola’s side should have made it two after Alex Scott dispossessed Igor Julio before pulling it back to Unal, but the Turkish striker dragged his effort wide from just inside the penalty area.

Just a few minutes after the break, the Cherries could have doubled their lead as Kluivert burst into the box with Antoine Semenyo waiting unmarked at the back post, but the Dutch forward opted to shoot from a tight angle and could only find the side netting.

Their second did arrive in the 52nd minute – Unal marking his first league start in style when he powered in a header after meeting Dango Ouattara’s floated cross to the back post.

Enciso twice went close as Brighton searched for a way back into the contest, striking off target from the edge of the box before sending a stunning attempt just wide.

Kluivert added further gloss to Bournemouth’s victory, however, driving in from the right and lashing in with his left foot to wrap up a comprehensive triumph.

Iraola’s European hopes firmly alive

The Cherries have now extended their unbeaten run at home to six games in the Premier League, with the Vitality Stadium becoming a bit of a fortress in recent months.

Bournemouth, who have now achieved their record points tally in the Premier League (48), are in with an outside chance of qualifying for Europe, with Andoni Iraola’s men moving back into the top half of table, just six points behind Manchester United in sixth.

Unal’s goal and assist might give Iraola something to think about in terms of team selection, too, as the Bournemouth boss looks to finish his maiden season in the competition on a high note, though a late injury for Semenyo, who had to be taken off on a stretcher, will perhaps dampen the mood somewhat.

De Zerbi’s debutants fail to deliver

De Zerbi handed full Premier League debuts to Mark O’Mahony and Odeluga Offiah, making seven changes overall as the Seagulls looked to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Manchester City last time out.

However, those alterations did not have the desired impact, and it is now just two wins from their last 16 Premier League games for the Seagulls, with De Zerbi’s side only beating Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United on the road this season.

Brighton have secured just two points from a possible 21 available in their previous seven fixtures, and a second season in Europe is surely beyond them now.