Untimely draw blow to Liverpool’s title hopes
There was frustration from Jurgen Klopp at dropping vital points but no moaning.
His Liverpool’s 1-1 draw yesterday with a tactically disciplined and defensively robust Tottenham handed Manchester City an even greater initiative in the English Premier League title race.
The damage would have been greater had Luis Diaz’s deflected strike not cancelled out Son Heung-min’s tap-in for the fifthplaced visitors.
Liverpool are back in first place in the league but City can pull three points clear with three games remaining by beating Newcastle today.
Being held by Tottenham was only the second time in 14 matches that Liverpool have dropped points, and the other time was against City.
While Tottenham are the only team unbeaten against City and Liverpool this season, drawing at Anfield also hurts Spurs’ bid to qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal in fourth place can pull four points ahead of Tottenham by beating Leeds today.
But the performance against the 2020 champions will galvanise Tottenham for the run-in.
‘‘This was perfect in our game plan, good team play,’’ Son said. ‘‘But we should have got more.’’
The moment to take the lead was seized with a flowing attack in the 56th minute when Harry Kane laid the ball off to the left flank where Ryan Sessegnon squared for Son to finish simply into an unprotected net. Chances to double the lead were minimal before Diaz’s shot in the 74th deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur and beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
United embarrassed
It’s five straight away losses for
Manchester United – with 16 goals conceded in that run – after a 4-0 loss to Brighton.
The best United can realistically hope for is a sixth-place finish and a spot in the Europa League.
The season will end with United’s fewest points since 1991, before the Premier League era launched. It’s a challenging situation for incoming manager Erik ten Hag to inherit.
Chelsea collapse
Todd Boehly certainly got drama after taking his seat at Chelsea as a prospective part-owner, just not what he was hoping for as the west London club collapsed to draw againstWolverhampton 2-2.
Boehly appeared to live the emotional rollercoaster of the match – from the early VAR calls disallowing two Chelsea goals, to the double from Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, to the equaliser by Wolves defender Conor Coady in the seventh minute of secondhalf stoppage time.
A consortium fronted by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ part-owner has agreed on terms for the £2.5 billion (NZ$4.8b) purchase of Chelsea. The takeover needs Premier League and government approval.
Third-placed Chelsea are still not certain of securing Champions League qualification for the first full season of Boehly’s reign, sitting four points ahead of Arsenal.
Watford relegated
Roy Hodgson couldn’t keep Watford up in perhaps the final job of his long coaching career.
Watford’s immediate return to the Championship was sealed by a 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace, for whom Wilfried Zaha scored a penalty.
Burnley might yet join Watford and already-relegated Norwich in the Championship after losing at home to Aston Villa 3-1. It left Burnley two points clear of third-to-last Everton, who have two games in hand – the first at Leicester today.
Brentford, though, can start preparing for another season in the Premier League after beating Southampton 3-0 in their first topflight campaign since 1947.