City take upper hand in title race as Liverpool slip
Manchester City moved a step closer
to retaining their Premier League title after they demolished Newcastle 5-0 last Sunday (May 8) to take advantage of Liverpool’s stumble against Spurs 24 hours earlier.
Pep Guardiola’s team were
smarting after a heartbreaking
defeat to Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday and,
aware that the domestic league
is now the only title available to them, came out all guns blazing against the Magpies.
Goals from Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, Phil Foden and
a Raheem Sterling brace saw City storm back to the top of the table, a position Liverpool
had held momentarily after their 1-1 home draw against Antonio Conte’s side.
Liverpool controlled the game and had the better scoring opportunities although it was Son Heung-min who fired Spurs ahead in the 56th minute.
The South Korean’s strike means he is the first Spurs player in a Premier League season since Gareth Bale in 2013 to reach 20 goals, excluding penalties. It also means he is just two behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in the race for this season’s golden boot award.
Luis Diaz equalised for the
Reds but they were unable to secure a much-needed winner.
They sit in second place in the table on 83 points, three behind leaders City having both played the same number of games. At time of press, Liverpool were due to visit Aston Villa on Tuesday (May 10) with City travelling to Wolves 24 hours later.
The result may mean Liverpool’s dream of the quadruple has slipped although they still stand to have a fantastic season, having reached the Champions League Final and due to contest the FA Cup Final against Chelsea tomorrow (May 14). By season’s end they
will have played 63 matches, the absolute maximum possible across all competitions.
At the bottom of the table, Liverpool’s rivals Everton secured a vital 2-1 win at Leicester City to edge themselves clear of the relegation zone after Burnley lost to Aston Villa 1-3 and Arsenal managed to defeat Leeds United 2-1. Leeds now occupy the final spot in the bottom three after Watford were officially relegated when they lost to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Fourth-placed Arsenal are four points clear of fifthplaced Tottenham, with three games left for both teams in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a top-four finish.
Elsewhere, the end of the season cannot come soon enough for Manchester United who were not only soundly beaten 4-0 by Brighton on Saturday but who submitted one of their worst performances in recent memory. The crushing defeat means the Red Devils will end the season with their worst ever points return in the Premier League.