Manchester City added to Liverpool’s woes after their 4-1 win while Arsenal moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table following their 4-1 win over Leeds.
In the match between the two teams that have dominated English football over the past five years, City dominated despite Erling Haaland’s injury absence.
Liverpool took the lead thanks to Mohamed Salah’s 23rd goal of the season, but were blown away in the second half after City equalised through Julian Alvarez.
Kevin De Bruyne tapped in Riyad Mahrez’s cross to give Pep Guardiola’s team the lead with less than a minute remaining in the second half.
Ilkay Gundogan scored the third goal, and Jack Grealish scored the fourth to cap off his best performance in a City jersey.
“Now it’s the Jack we thought (we were buying). Aston Villa fans know this Jack,” said Guardiola of Grealish, who joined for a Premier League record £100 million ($124 million) in 2021 from the Birmingham club.
Later this month, City and Arsenal will meet at the Etihad Stadium in what could be a title-deciding matchup.
Liverpool’s hopes for a top-four finish suffer another setback as the Reds fall to eighth in the table.
As Jesus scored twice in his first league start since November, Arsenal did not feel the pressure of City briefly closing the gap before kickoff at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta gave Bukayo Saka a rare rest, and Jesus scored the game’s first goal from the penalty spot in his absence 10 minutes before halftime.
Jesus was sidelined for three months after suffering a knee injury at the World Cup, but his return for the run-in could deny his former club a fifth title in six years.
After Ben White had doubled Arsenal’s lead early in the second half, the Brazilian scored his second of the match.
“He’s been working so hard the last four or five months with a lot of support obviously from the team and the staff,” said Arteta on Jesus’ impact. “Today he deserved the chance to start and he grabbed the opportunity with a lot of conviction and scoring two very important goals.”
Granit Xhaka completed the scoring as Arsenal became the first team in Arteta’s tenure to win seven consecutive league games.
After a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Amex, Brighton and Brentford split the points.
Three times, Pontus Jansson, Ivan Toney, and Ethan Pinnock gave Brentford the lead.
Alexis Mac Allister’s late penalty earned the Seagulls a point after Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck scored equalisers in the first half.
With one point each, both teams have moved above Liverpool and are within six points of the top four.
Aston Villa is also making a late push for Europe, as evidenced by their 2-0 victory over Chelsea under Unai Emery.
Ollie Watkins and John McGinn scored for the visitors at Stamford Bridge, elevating them to ninth place above Chelsea.
Photo by EPA/Adam Vaughan
