Frustration for Liverpool, City
EPL: TITLE LEADERS DRAW AS SPURS TURN ON THE STYLE
Liverpool and Manchester City shared a pulsating 1-1 draw in their title showdown to leave Arsenal on top of the Premier League, while Tottenham routed Aston Villa 4-0 to reignite their bid for a top four finish yesterday.
City took the lead through John Stones’ first-half strike, but Alexis Mac Allister equalised with a penalty soon after the interval at Anfield.
The result was exactly what Arsenal wanted as the Gunners retained first place, a position they earned when Kai Havertz’s late header clinched a 2-1 win against Brentford on Saturday.
Arsenal are above second-placed Liverpool on goal difference, with a +7 advantage, while champions City are one point adrift of the top two, with all three teams having 10 games left.
In a title race for the ages, Arsenal will travel to City for a potentially decisive clash in both sides’ next league game on 31 March.
Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs arrived at Villa Park knowing defeat to their fourth-placed rivals would have been potentially fatal to their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
But the north Londoners rose to the challenge with a second-half goal spree in the rainsoaked West Midlands.
James Maddison put Spurs ahead and Brennan Johnson doubled their lead before Villa captain John McGinn was sent off for chopping down Destiny Udogie.
Son Heung-min and Timo Werner struck in stoppage time to leave fifth-placed Tottenham just two points behind Villa with a game in hand.
“We made it tough for Villa. They worked hard just to contain us. We got our rewards in the second half,” Postecoglou said.
“Everyone was billing this as a do-or-die for us. I assume we’re not dead yet. It means we’re one game closer, just 11 games to go.”
Villa are hoping to reach the Champions League for the first time since 1983, but this was a major setback to their unexpected bid for a top four finish.
“We have to control our emotions. The first two goals were crazy,” Villa boss Unai Emery said.
At the London Stadium, Burnley blew a two-goal lead as Danny Ings’ last-gasp equaliser rescued a 2-2 draw for West Ham.
Fourth bottom Nottingham Forest failed to pull away from relegation danger as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Brighton.
Andrew Omobamidele’s firsthalf own goal ended Brighton’s three-match winless league run to lift them to eighth place.