Arsenal and Liverpool defeats boost Man City’s title bid

London — Arsenal were stunned by two late Aston Villa goals as they lost 2-0 at home on Sunday to hand the initiative in the Premier League title race to defending champions Manchester City.

Villa substitute Leon Bailey tapped home from close range in the 84th minute before Ollie Watkins’ sublime finish three minutes later sent Gunners fans streaming for the exits.

Arsenal’s defeat, their first in 12 league games, sees them remain second, two points behind City and level on points with third-placed Liverpool with six games left to play.

After Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace earlier on Sunday, the weekend belonged to City who bolstered their chances of an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title with a 5-1 demolition of visiting Luton Town on Saturday.

Villa weathered pressure in the first half, with Kai Havertz shooting straight at goalkeeper Emi Martinez before Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka hit the side-netting as an opening goal for the Gunners felt like an imminent inevitability.

But Villa went closest when Watkins’ effort bounced off one post and narrowly wide of the other, while Youri Tielemans’ rasping effort hit the crossbar then the post and somehow stayed out as the visitors improved considerably after the break.

Bailey gave the visitors the lead when he turned in Lucas Digne’s dangerous cross before Watkins broke Arsenal hearts with a beautiful chip over keeper David Raya to settle the contest.

“It’s massive to come away to Arsenal when they are playing such good football, and to play like that just shows where we are going. It was a perfect away performance,” Villa’s England striker Watkins told Sky Sports.

The win boosts fourth-placed Villa’s chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League and moves them three points above Tottenham Hotspur, albeit having played a game more. 

Stun faithful

Liverpool’s quest for a title in manager Juergen Klopp’s final season with the team suffered a huge blow with defeat to Crystal Palace at Anfield that left them third in the table.

Eberechi Eze scored in the 14th minute to stun the Anfield faithful in the third consecutive disappointing result for Liverpool.

Klopp’s men are even on 71 points with second-placed Arsenal, and two behind leaders Manchester City.

Tyrick Mitchell found Eze unmarked in the box after some pretty passing and Eze slotted home with his first touch to put Palace ahead.

Poor finishing by Liverpool sealed their first league loss at Anfield since October 2022 and the television cameras captured young Liverpool fans wiping away tears in the stands after the final whistle.

Liverpool, who had 21 shots to Palace’s eight, squandered a bagful of chances including Curtis Jones’ shot on a breakaway that he fired wide, tugging his shirt over his head in disbelief.

Liverpool’s talisman Mohamed Salah hammered a close-range strike off a defender in the dying seconds.

Palace keeper Dean Henderson also made some remarkable saves, darting to stop a Darwin Nunez point-blank shot off his knee, among others.

Palace could have doubled their lead in the first half when Jean-Philippe Mateta chipped past Liverpool keeper Alisson. The ball was bound for goal but defender Andy Robertson sprinted back and slid to just save it on the line.

Reuters