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regular-article-logo Thursday, 02 May 2024

Advantage to Manchester City after rivals Liverpool, Arsenal stumble with shocking losses

Liverpool suffered a huge blow with a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday. Later, Arsenal were stunned by two late Aston Villa goals as they lost 2-0 at home to hand the initiative in the league title race to defending champions Manchester City

Our Bureau And Agencies Liverpool Published 15.04.24, 11:45 AM
Jürgen Klopp to mull on Liverpool's performance after his side lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace

Jürgen Klopp to mull on Liverpool's performance after his side lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace X/@LFC

Liverpool's quest for the English Premier League title in manager Juergen Klopp's final season with the team suffered a huge blow with a 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Anfield on Sunday that left them third in the table.

Later, Arsenal were stunned by two late Aston Villa goals as they lost 2-0 at home to hand the initiative in the league title race to defending champions Manchester City.

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Villa substitute Leon Bailey tapped home from close range in the 84th minute before Ollie Watkins' sublime finish three minutes later sent Gunners fans streaming for the exits.

Arsenal remain second, two points behind City and level on points with Liverpool with six games left to play.

Fourth-placed Villa weathered pressure in the first half but were good value for the win which moves them three points above Tottenham Hotspur albeit having played a game more.

At Anfield, Eberechi Eze scored in the 14th minute in the third consecutive disappointing result for Liverpool.

Liverpool were coming off a 3-0 home loss to Atalanta in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday and a costly 2-2 draw with Manchester United in their previous league game on April 7.

Tyrick Mitchell found Eze unmarked in the box after some pretty passing and Eze slotted home with his first touch to put Palace ahead.

Poor finishing by Liverpool sealed their first league loss at Anfield since October 2022 and the television cameras captured young Liverpool fans wiping away tears in the stands after the final whistle.

Liverpool, who had 21 shots to Palace's eight, squandered a bagful of chances including Curtis Jones's shot on a breakaway that he fired wide, tugging his shirt over his head in disbelief. Liverpool's talisman Mohamed Salah hammered a close-range strike off a defender in the dying seconds.

Palace keeper Dean Henderson also made some remarkable saves, darting to stop a Darwin Nunez point-blank shot off his knee, among others.

Palace could have doubled their lead in the first half when Jean-Philippe Mateta chipped past Liverpool keeper Alisson. The ball was bound for goal but defender Andy Robertson sprinted back and slid to just save it on the line.

Palace, who are 14th in the table, ended a 10-match winless run on the road, their first away victory since November against Burnley.

Fulham roadshow

A brace by Andreas Pereira ensured Fulham's third win on the road in this season when they beat West Ham 2-0.

Fulham moved up to 12th place with 42 points from 33 matches. West Ham remained eighth with 48 points, four ahead of Chelsea who have three games in hand and host Everton on Monday.

Konstantinos Mavropanos lost control of Alex Iwobi's long ball in the ninth minute and it fell to Pereira inside the box. The former Manchester United midfielder sidestepped keeper Lukasz Fabianski and scored with ease.

Fabianski kept West Ham in the game when he blocked Willian's low shot.

Reuters

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