City drop points in EPL, one of several key draws
Fernandinho’s own-goal in the 90th minute saw Manchester City draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace yesterday, moving English Premier League leaders Liverpool even closer to the title.
City’s draw means Liverpool can extend their lead to an almost insurmountable 16 points by beating Manchester United today.
London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham each took blows to their bids for Champions League places, both drawing in games they could have won.
Not even Sergio Aguero’s fearsome goalscoring form could earn City a win over a tenacious Crystal Palace team.
With City staring at a possible defeat courtesy of Cenk Tosun’s 39th-minute goal for Palace, Aguero scored twice in the last 10 minutes, taking him to six goals from his last three EPL games. However, Palace weren’t done and levelled in the 90th when Wilfried Zaha’s ball went in off Fernandinho.
Leicester can move level on points with
City if they beat Burnley tomorrow but won’t retake second place on goal difference.
With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suspended, Arsenal lacked the attacking firepower to see off Sheffield United in a 1-1 draw.
John Fleck salvaged a draw for Sheffield with a bouncing shot in the 83rd after two 18-year-olds had combined for Arsenal’s opening goal. Gabriel Martinelli was the scorer, knocking the ball in from close range after fellow youngster Bukayo Saka’s cross was deflected and looped over the Sheffield defence.
However, Arsenal could have built a bigger lead. Martinelli sent two other firsthalf chances wide, while Arsenal were aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty by the video assistant referee when Jack O’Connell missed the ball and made contact with Nicolas Pepe’s legs in the box.
Dele Alli was left fuming in the Tottenham dugout as last season’s Champions League finalists slipped further away from qualifying for next season’s competition with a 0-0 draw at Watford.
A penalty save by goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga kept Tottenham in the game before a goal-line clearance from Watford’s Ignacio Pussetto stopped Tottenham sneaking a win in stoppage time.
Jose Mourinho’s team last won in the league against Brighton on December 26. The frustration was clear when Alli threw an object to the ground in the dugout after being substituted.
In other matches, Wolves beat Southampton 3-2, Norwich edged Bournemouth 1-0, Aston Villa drew 1-1 at Brighton, and West Ham and Everton also drew 1-1.