MANCHESTER, England — The Premier League might just have a new title favorite.
Manchester City swung the race for the championship in its favor by beating Arsenal 2-1 on Sunday thanks to a second-half winner by Erling Haaland.
Haaland’s league-leading 23rd goal of the campaign in the 65th minute allowed City to trim the gap to Arsenal, the long-time front-runner, to just three points. City has a game in hand at relegation-threatened Burnley on Wednesday, after which Pep Guardiola’s team is likely to have overturned its goal-difference deficit to Arsenal and taken the lead with five rounds remaining.
“Panic on the streets of London” read a banner held aloft behind one of the goals after the final whistle — a reference to a 1980s song by Mancunian band The Smiths and a nod to Arsenal’s end-of-season implosion that has seen Mikel Arteta’s team lose four of its last six games in all competitions, including two straight in the league.
This might be a familiar sinking feeling for Arsenal fans, who have seen their team finish as runner-up for the past three Premier League seasons.
“Two weeks ago, this didn’t look very likely, this scenario,” City captain Bernardo Silva said.
An often-frenetic match exploded into life when Rayan Cherki gave City a 16th-minute lead with a weaving run and sublime finish, only for Arsenal to draw level in bizarre circumstances two minutes later, after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s clearance was charged down by Kai Havertz and rebounded into the net from close range.
Haaland and Arsenal pair Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes struck the goal frame, before Haaland slotted home a low shot from Nico O’Reilly’s cross, dealing a huge blow to Arsenal’s hopes of a first league championship since 2004.
City is expected to beat next-to-last Burnley, but has a tougher runin than Arsenal that includes trips to Everton and Bournemouth and a final-day meeting with Aston Villa.
“Every game is a final,” Haaland said.
Unlike City, which is unbeaten in 10 league games, Arsenal is struggling for form and also has to balance playing in the Champions League after reaching the semifinals.
“It’s a new league now — everything is still to play for,” Arteta said.
Liverpool, Villa leave it late
Liverpool and Aston Villa look to be headed for the Champions League next season after grabbing stoppage-time winners on Sunday.
Virgil van Dijk headed home in the 10th minute of stoppage time to earn Liverpool a 2-1 victory at Everton in a Merseyside derby featuring a record-tying goal from Mohamed Salah.
Salah, who is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nine trophy-filled seasons, marked his final derby by slotting in a low finish in the 29th minute. His ninth Merseyside derby goal drew him even with Liverpool great Steven Gerrard for the most Liverpool goals in the Premier League era.
It was Liverpool’s other stalwart, Van Dijk, who sealed the win by turning in a Dominik Szoboszlai corner.
There was so much stoppage time because Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was forced off on a stretcher after sustaining an injury attempting, in vain, to save a 54th-minute shot by Beto that brought Everton level.
Villa, meanwhile, beat Sunderland 4-3 thanks to Tammy Abraham’s goal in the third minute of stoppage time.
Fourth-placed Villa moved 10 points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea. Liverpool is in between them, but stretched its advantage over Chelsea to seven points.
The top five in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League.
Hat-trick boosts Forest
Morgan Gibbs-White scored a second-half hat-trick as Nottingham Forest rallied to beat Burnley 4-1 and further boost its survival hopes.
Forest moved five points clear of third-to-last Tottenham in the relegation zone, while next-to-last Burnley slipped even closer to dropping into the Championship.
