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• 'The best winger on the planet' – Guardiola lauds defender Gvardiol after Fulham rout

  Pep Guardiola joked Manchester City have signed "the best winger on the planet" after defender Josko Gvardiol scored twice in Saturday's 4-0 thrashing of Fulham.

  Centre-back Gvardiol once again operated at full-back on the left of City's four-man defence, finding the net in either half at Craven Cottage as Guardiola's side moved back to the Premier League summit.

  His first came from a dancing run inside from Kevin De Bruyne's dinked pass before curling a well-taken right-footed finish into the bottom-left corner.

  That passage of play may have been expected from City's attacking riches of Phil Foden, Erling Haaland or Bernardo Silva, though Gvardiol is becoming accustomed to starring at the other end of the pitch.

  The Croatia international has netted five goals in his last seven games for City after not scoring in his first 32 matches across all competitions – but Guardiola is not surprised.

  "The first goal, we signed the best winger on the planet," Guardiola jested with BBC Radio Manchester. "He's an incredible guy, can play in different positions.

  "After Wolves I gave [the players] three days off, he was the only one who went to the training centre for his recovery.

  "He lives for his profession. We have made an incredible signing for many, many years to come."

  Foden also scored his 25th goal of the season for City, becoming just the second English player to score 25+ in a season for the club in the Premier League era (across all competitions), after Raheem Sterling in 2018-19 (25) and 2019-20 (31).

  Julian Alvarez then wrapped up proceedings with a last-gasp penalty, taking the spot-kick from Gvardiol, who passed up the chance to score a hat-trick out of respect for his team-mate.

  That domination ensured City will end the day in first place for just the eighth time in 2024 – overall, this will be the 72nd day they have ended in top spot this season, behind Liverpool (87) and Arsenal (74).

  Guardiola's side are two points clear of Arsenal, who play Manchester United on Sunday, and still have a game in hand to come when visiting Tottenham on Tuesday.

  The City manager told his post-match press conference: "Our dream is as we said a few weeks ago when [Arsenal] lost against Aston Villa was to arrive in the last games with it in our hands.

  "We wanted to play West Ham at home with the destiny belonging to us."

  Destiny remains in City's hands as they search for a sixth Premier League title in the last seven seasons.

• Al Hilal crowned Saudi Pro League champions after Al Hazm hammering

  Al Hilal secured their fourth straight Saudi Pro League title after Aleksandar Mitrovic starred in Saturday's 4-1 thrashing of bottom side Al Hazm.

  Faiz Selemani restored parity after Mitrovic's 15th-minute opener at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, only for Jorge Jesus' hosts to roar back and be crowned champions with three games remaining.

  Ahmed Al Juwaid's own goal handed the initiative back to the dominant Al Hilal, who led 4-1 at the break after Mitrovic added another to his tally and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was on target.

  The second of Mitrovic's strikes took him to a team-leading 26 league goals this term as Al Hilal breezed to another title, moving an unassailable 12 points clear of Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.

  Jesus' side are unbeaten through all 31 games this season after securing their record-extending 19th top-flight crown in history, while Al Hazm need to win their last three matches to have any chance of staying up.

  Al Hazm's relegation rivals Al Tai boosted their chances of survival in Saturday's earlier clash after a 1-1 draw away against Al Raed.

  Al Tai are just a point away from 15th-placed Abha Club in their bid for top-flight safety after Ibrahim Al Nakhli's strike was cancelled out by Al Raed's Mohammed Fouzair in the second half.

• Al-Ittihad 0-5 Al-Ettifaq: Ekambi scores hat-trick in five-star display

  Karl Toko Ekambi netted a hat-trick as Al-Ettifaq got back to winning ways in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.

  He scored twice in four minutes at the end of the first half to send the visitors into the break 4-0 up before getting his third just 10 minutes after the break.

  Seko Fofana had already given Steven Gerrard’s side the lead five minutes into the contest, while Moussa Dembele doubled their advantage from the penalty spot.

  Al-Ittihad had the chances, but they could not find the back of the net, as they stayed fifth, but are now just six points above Al-Ettifaq. 

  Data Debrief: Clinical finishers

  Al-Ettifaq had five shots on target against Al-Ittihad, scoring with all of them while creating an xG of 3.62.

  With his hat-trick against Al-Ittihad, Ekambi has now scored 11 goals for the season, netting more than once for the first time since joining the club.