Premier League title race: Arsenal close gap to Liverpool but Man City lurking
The Premier League title race was well and truly reignited last night after Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Liverpool closed the gap between the two sides to two points with defending champions Manchester City lurking in behind.
A Liverpool win would have opened an eight-point gap between themselves and both Arsenal and Manchester City, albeit Pep Guardiola’s side have played two fewer games.
But the three points from Arsenal at Emirates Stadium last night have left Liverpool, 51 points, within reach of their title rivals, 49 and 46 points.
Bukayo Saka put the Gunners ahead in the 14th minute having capitalised on a poor Kai Havertz shot which was parried away by goalkeeper Alisson to the feet of the 22-year-old England international.
But Liverpool levelled on the stroke of half-time after an Arsenal defensive mess saw Gabriel get a final touch on a ball which found its way into an empty net.
Another lapse in defensive concentration handed Arsenal their second, though, when Virgil van Dijk and Alisson looked to have covered a Gunners chance only for the two Liverpool players to let the ball bounce and miss completely. Gabriel Martinelli calmly fired his side ahead..
“I take full responsibility for that,” Van Dijk said of the second Arsenal goal. “I should have tried to clear it but I made the wrong decision. These things don’t happen too often in my career so this is a tough one.”
And after Ibrahima Konaté was handed his marching orders by referee Anthony Taylor, Leandro Trossard netted Arsenal’s third to put the cherry on a dominant performance by the Gunners.
Premier League race on
Arsenal’s Declan Rice said: “We knew the importance of the game today.
“Our only focus was to win and get three points.
“It was a kick in the teeth to concede but we knew this was a big 45 minutes in our season.”
The result leaves Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool top of the Premier League table but Mikel Arteta’s side are now just two points behind in second – Manchester City are five off top spot having played two fewer matches.
Maximum points from City’s two matches in hand would see them lead the Premier League by one point.
Aston Villa make up the top four with Manchester United’s 3-0 win over West Ham handing them sixth spot behind Tottenham Hotspur.
The Premier League continues tonight as champions Manchester City travel to Brentford to take on a London side without a win in their last three.