Foden rescues Man City with late goal in 3-2 win over Leeds in the Premier League
London (AP): Manchester City squandered a two-goal lead before grabbing a stoppage-time winner through Phil Foden to seal a 3-2 victory over Leeds in the Premier League on Saturday.
With Erling Haaland failing to score for a third straight game, City relied largely on Foden to overcome a team languishing in the relegation zone.
The England playmaker opened the scoring after 59 seconds — for the fastest goal in the league this season — before Josko Gvardiol added a second for City in the 25th.
Leeds replied in the second half through Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha, a striker who came through City's academy, before Foden curled home the winner in the first minute of added-on time.
City climbed to second place and trimmed the gap to first-place Arsenal, which visits Chelsea on Sunday, to four points.
Having lost 2-1 at Newcastle in the league last weekend and 2-0 to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday, City was staring at a three-match winless run in all competitions before Foden's late intervention.
Haaland, the Premier League's top scorer, hasn't scored in any of those games.
Sunderland produced an even better fightback than Leeds, also coming from two goals down to win 3-2 at home to Bournemouth. Brian Brobbey grabbed the winner in the 69th while Bournemouth's second goal was a shot from nearly 50 yards (meters) from U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams.
Brentford beat Burnley 3-1 in the other early game, with Igor Thiago scoring twice for the hosts.
Later, Newcastle visits Everton before Tottenham hosts Fulham.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
