Man City and Arsenal earn away wins in EPL title race. Can Liverpool follow them?
Over to you, Liverpool. Arsenal and Manchester City did their bit in the latest chapter of the English Premier League’s tight title race, negotiating potentially tricky away matches on Saturday to maintain unbeaten streaks in the competition stretching back to December.
After City overcame an early scare to overwhelm Crystal Palace 4-2 largely on the back of Kevin De Bruyne’s masterful performance, Arsenal won at Brighton 3-0 thanks to goals from the returning Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.
That left Arsenal, City and Liverpool separated by one point, with Arsenal in the lead and City a point back in third, behind Liverpool on goal difference.
Liverpool plays its game in hand on Sunday and it is one of the toughest of the run-in — at fierce rival Manchester United. Liverpool lost at United in the FA Cup last month.
City and Arsenal must now turn their attention to the Champions League as they face difficult games against Real Madrid away and Bayern Munich at home, respectively, on Tuesday.
City heads to the Spanish capital having rediscovered its scoring form and with the team’s undefeated run in all competitions now beyond four months.
Importantly for City, Erling Haaland is back among the goals.
And De Bruyne is back scoring screamers.
City recovered from conceding in the third minute to cruise to victory at Selhurst Park, with De Bruyne equalizing with a curling shot into the top corner that was so exquisite that Pep Guardiola blew kisses to the Belgium playmaker.
After Rico Lewis put City ahead in the 47th, Haaland scored his first goal in four games for City to earn De Bruyne his latest assist. De Bruyne then buried a left-footed piledriver for his second goal to finish off Palace.
“Kevin won the game,” Guardiola said. “Without Kevin today, maybe we would not be able to win, so when we talk about tactics, about managers, having players like Kevin in these kinds of games, it’s easy.
“The numbers, the presence, the consistency have been amazing. He’s one of the best players in the history of Manchester City.”
City struggled to create chances in a 0-0 draw against Arsenal last weekend that proved to be a setback in its attempt to win the league for a fourth straight season — a feat never achieved in English soccer’s 135-year history.
Since then, City has beaten Aston Villa 4-1 and won at Palace.
Arsenal, meanwhile, hasn’t lost in the league since Dec. 31 amidst a three-game losing streak which threatened to rock its campaign.
Now, Mikel Arteta’s team is looking rock solid, with the shutout at Amex Stadium making it four straight clean sheets in all competitions.
Saka was declared fit after missing the midweek win over Luton and opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 33rd after Gabriel Jesus was adjudged to have been tripped. Saka has converted all five of his penalties this season and has 14 goals in the league, tying his career-best haul.
Havertz tapped in Jorginho’s cross in the 62nd, then played in Trossard to run through and chip the goalkeeper to score against his former club.
VILLA WOBBLE >> Villa is stumbling in its bid to secure the fourth guaranteed spot for Champions League qualification.
With a 3-3 draw at home to Brentford, fourth-placed Villa has won just one of its last five league games and was just three points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham, which hosts Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The league could yet have five entrants for next season’s Champions League, however, depending on how English clubs perform in the European competitions this campaign.
Ollie Watkins scored two goals for Villa, which was 2-0 up before conceding three goals in a nine-minute span in the second half. Watkins’ second goal made it 3-3 in the 80th.