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Man City two wins from the title, Munster hold breath over Conor Murray

Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Burnley goalkeepr Tom Heaton reacts after Sergio Aguero scored Manchester City’s winner at Turf Moor. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty

Manchester City are two wins away from the Premier League title after they beat Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor yesterday to return to the top of the table. Pep Guardiola's side finally broke the Clarets' brave resistance in the 63rd minute, with Sergio Aguero's shot travelling fractionally over the line before it was cleared by Matthew Lowton. Later in the day Manchester United saw their hopes of a top four finish all but disappear after they were held 1-1 by Chelsea at Old Trafford. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were dominant in the first half and took the lead through Juan Mata, but the latest in a string of errors by goalkeeper David de Gea allowed Marcos Alonso to equalise as the Blues picked up a vital point. They now look favourites to fill the fourth Champions League spot, after Arsenal were comprehensively beaten by Leicester City, Unai Emery's side losing 3-0 in at the King Power Stadium. Last night also saw Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk named PFA Player of the Year.

Munster and Ireland are facing a nervous wait over the health of scrumhalf Conor Murray, as he missed the province's Pro14 win over Connacht on Saturday after injuring his neck during the warm-up. Johann van Graan confirmed Munster would give a clearer update on the 30-year-old's fitness today: "He could possibly have played but we decided to err on the side of caution and we'll give some more info on Monday. It's just very stiff at this stage. That's all I can say." Munster will play Benetton in the Pro14 quarter-finals next Saturday (Thomond Park, kick-off 3.0pm), while Connacht travel to play Ulster for a place in the semi-finals later the same day (Ravenhill, kick-off 5.35pm).

Elsewhere Sinead Diver - the Irish woman running for Australia - finished seventh in yesterday's London Marathon, after running a personal best of 2:24:11, the second fastest ever time by an Irish woman. The 42-year-old, originally from Mayo, led the race at the halfway point but was soon reeled in, with Kenya's Brigid Kosgei producing the fastest ever second half of a women's marathon (66:42) to take top honours. Meanwhile, her compatriot Eliud Kipchoge won the men's race for a record fourth time, finishing in 2:02:37 - the second fastest in history. A controversial week for Britain's Mo Farah saw him fade after a promising start to finish in fifth place.

In his column today Ken Early has looked at the evolution in football over the last decade, something he suggests was in evidence when relegated Huddersfield Town conceded to Liverpool and Naby Keita inside the opening minute last Friday night. He writes: "It was a team goal to which four players contributed, and two of them didn't even touch the ball. This is what top-level football is about now - team moves so rapid and automatic you have to watch it back several times to figure out what just happened."

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Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer have been victorious in the Zurich Classic, the duo combining to card a final round of 69 and win by three strokes in Louisiana. Graeme McDowell and Henrik Stenson faded on Sunday, shooting a 73 to finish nine shots off the pace. Meanwhile on the European Tour, Jorge Campillo won his maiden title at the 229th time of asking - the 32-year-old Spaniard taking the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco by two strokes.

And Valtteri Bottas took the Azerbaijan Grand Prix yesterday with a dominant performance from pole position. Lewis Hamilton finished second to make it a fourth-successive Mercedes one-two this season, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel completing the podium.

Patrick Madden

Patrick Madden

Patrick Madden is a former sports journalist with The Irish Times