Liverpool's Premier League title within reach as Arsenal gifts Crystal Palace late equaliser
Arsenal has kept Liverpool's Premier League title-winning champagne on ice but only just as it was twice pegged back to draw 2-2 at home by Crystal Palace.
First-half goals by Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard looked like being enough for a lacklustre Arsenal against a lively Palace side which earlier equalised with an Eberechi Eze volley.
But there was a late twist as Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta pounced on a lazy pass at the back from William Saliba, leaving intended recipient Martin Ødegaard sprawled on the turf as Mateta produced a superb chipped finish over Arsenal keeper David Raya from outside the box in the 83rd minute.
The draw left second-placed Arsenal on 67 points with four games remaining, meaning it can only match the 79 of Liverpool, which still has five games to play.
Had Arsenal lost, Liverpool would have won the title but they can now seal it with just a draw against Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday (Monday morning AEST).
Both Arsenal and Palace have huge cup semifinal games looming: Arsenal in the Champions League at home to Paris St Germain next Tuesday and Palace this Saturday against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
Twelfth-placed Palace could have been excused if they were distracted by what will be the biggest game of their season.
Instead, it was Arsenal who were off the pace as they drew for the 13th time in the league this season and fifth time in eight — a statistic that has allowed Liverpool to all but mathematically wrap up a record-equalling 20th English title.
Palace, who left key players Mateta and Ismaila Sarr on the bench but still fielded Eze, will have taken great heart from their display as they prepare for Villa.
Photo shows
A stylised graphic with three silhouettes of unidentified a female footballer, tennis player, basketballer
ABC Sport and Deakin University have partnered to produce the first ABC Elite Athletes in Australian Women's Sport Survey.
Eze took his goal brilliantly, connecting with Adam Wharton's corner to bounce a volley in off the post past Raya.
But the best was saved to last as
If Liverpool can avoid losing to Spurs, they will lock up their first title since breaking a 30-year drought in 2020 and end Manchester City's run of four straight.
The ABC of SPORT
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.
Your information is being handled in accordance with the
Email address
Subscribe
Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- News.com.au
Football world erupts after Ange Postecoglou torn to shreds by pundit for his ‘nuclear-strength bull***'
After being sacked by Tottenham last week the football world has largely rallied around Ange Postecoglou, thanking him for his service and his work in breaking Spurs' trophy drought. However not everyone has been kind with one pundit in particular sticking the boot into the Aussie on his way out. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy axed the boss early on Saturday (AEST), just over two weeks after Spurs lifted the Europa League trophy. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. Victory over Manchester United in Spain ended the club's 17-year wait for a trophy, but it wasn't enough to save his job after Tottenham's worst-ever Premier League season where they finished 17th. Regardless, in the aftermath of his sacking several of the club's stars came out in support of the Aussie manager, with the likes of Yves Bissouma, captain Heung-Min Son, Richarlison, James Maddison, Pedro Porro, Micky van de Ven and Lucas Bergvall all penning heartfelt messages of thanks. While others in the sporting world noted that Postecoglou leaves with a Tottenham legacy that can never be tarnished, ending the club's painful silverware drought. But while the tone has been overwhelmingly positive towards Postecoglou, a few pundits have sung a different tune, in particular, Jonathan Liew of The Guardian, whose scathing opinion piece on the Aussie raised more than a few eyebrows. In a truly inflammatory piece on Wednesday, Liew hinted Postecoglou was mostly talk with little substance and suggested he would be better off managing the likes of the struggling Japanese club Gamba Osaka or Australian cellar dwellars Perth Glory. 'For Ange Postecoglou, who always bristled at the idea that his wealth of coaching experience had somehow been earned in inferior competitions, perhaps his departure from Tottenham really can be a kind of springboard: to one of these prestigious, equally demanding leagues he keeps talking about,' Liew wrote in The Guardian. 'Maybe the struggling Gamba Osaka or Perth Glory could well have a vacancy soon. Motherwell are still looking. A step down? That's just your old-world, Eurocentric, Prem-brained snobbery showing right through there, mate.' But his swipe at the Aussie didn't stop there, summing up Postecoglou's reign rather harshly. 'There may never have been a manager better at defining his own terms of achievement; a managerial reign so evidently built upon a towering silo of nuclear-strength bull***,' Liew continued. 'A coach who urged us to judge him on the league now no longer judges himself on the league. 'A coach who blames Tottenham's abject league performance on a freak injury crisis also takes no responsibility for that injury crisis, for a style of play in which Tottenham comfortably spend more time in high-intensity sprints than any other Premier League team. 'A coach who claims he takes no notice of what is said and written about him has spent a suspiciously high proportion of this season reacting to things that have been said and written about him.' However, his opinion piece did not garner the kind of support he surely envisioned, with the football world turning on Liew. Australian sports reporter Mark Gottlieb wrote on X: 'Used to be a huge fan of Jonathan Liew's writing on football & cricket but he's consistently embarrassed himself with his coverage of Ange Postecoglou over the years. All the way back to those rude, arrogant podcast comments. Rarely seen such blatant England-centric snobbery.' 'This is awfully weird from Jonathan Liew,' X account Spurs Army wrote. 'I found this piece on Ange Postecoglou from Jonathan Liew oddly personal in its criticism of him,' another added. 'Good to see people calling out Jonathan Liew's latest snide piece on Ange Postecoglou. He's always had that tone about his writing in general and this vendetta was a personal one from the early days of the tenure,' a fourth wrote. Jonathan Liew previously admitted he 'can't stand' Ange The latest outburst isn't the first time Liew has torn into the Aussie - on a podcast in 2023 he accused Ange of speaking 'bulls***'. 'I'm just not having Ange,' Liew said on The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast in November 2023. 'I'm not having Ange Postecoglou. As a coach, I can't stand him.' When put to him by host Max Rushden that Postecoglou is a 'lovely man', Liew responded: 'He comes across as a lovely man. All of the people saying he's great, saying he's a great bloke — nobody knows him. 'All you know about him are the little 45-second clips that come from his press conferences or that turn up on your Twitter feed every week.' Liew then took potshots at Postecoglou, mocking his Aussie drawl and use of the word 'mate'. 'Honestly, it's just such bulls***,' Liew said. 'He is an unbelievable talker,' he said. 'On the pitch, things have been going well, but they have a good squad. There was a thirst there for these players to go out and play a high line. I'm not saying he hasn't coached them well. I'm just saying he hasn't coached them brilliantly. He's just said some things. Made them feel good about themselves and his good players have been infused with good vibes. 'What we're seeing now and what we're going to see over the medium and long term is that Spurs are going to regress. They are nowhere near title contenders. They don't have a coach or a squad that's going to get them anywhere near the title race.'
The Age
10 hours ago
- The Age
Max King daring to dream of Ashes tour if Blues clinch Origin series
'It's far down the road,' King said of the Ashes series. 'I don't really want to think about it too much. 'Obviously, there's the Origin series and there's a whole lot of clubland. 'Representing Australia would just cap off the year. I don't want to say a dream come true because my dreams have already come true. 'It would be another one to tick off the box for sure.' King's 82-year-old grandfather was a St George legend who scored tries in six successive grand final victories between 1960-65, and represented Australia in 15 Tests, six of which were during the 1967-68 tour of England and France. As a youngster growing up in Maitland, King listened on in awe whenever Johnny relived anecdotes of a career that earned him induction into the rugby league Hall of Fame in 2008. 'Back in those days, they [the Kangaroos] went over for three months … my Nan and Pop had my auntie a day before they headed over,' he said. 'She gave birth and then he went over for three months. So I'm sure Nan wasn't too impressed. But yeah, plenty of stories there.' King is eligible to play for England after being born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1997. His father, former Gold Coast forward David King, spent more than a decade playing professionally in the Old Dart. Max's mother is English, and he expressed interest in playing for the Lions at the 2022 World Cup but was not required. 'I thought I might have been a chance,' he said. 'There's a lot of great players in England. I was never filthy about missing out. 'Growing up as a kid in Australia, I don't think anyone grows up without wanting to play Origin or for Australia. Loading 'I'm definitely glad the way things have turned out. To be here representing my state, it couldn't have worked out better.' King said he called his grandparents from the Suncorp Stadium dressing rooms after the Origin I victory. 'They just said that they love me and are proud of me,' he said. 'It's so cool to ride this journey. It's not just my journey, it's my family's journey.'
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Max King daring to dream of Ashes tour if Blues clinch Origin series
'It's far down the road,' King said of the Ashes series. 'I don't really want to think about it too much. 'Obviously, there's the Origin series and there's a whole lot of clubland. 'Representing Australia would just cap off the year. I don't want to say a dream come true because my dreams have already come true. 'It would be another one to tick off the box for sure.' King's 82-year-old grandfather was a St George legend who scored tries in six successive grand final victories between 1960-65, and represented Australia in 15 Tests, six of which were during the 1967-68 tour of England and France. As a youngster growing up in Maitland, King listened on in awe whenever Johnny relived anecdotes of a career that earned him induction into the rugby league Hall of Fame in 2008. 'Back in those days, they [the Kangaroos] went over for three months … my Nan and Pop had my auntie a day before they headed over,' he said. 'She gave birth and then he went over for three months. So I'm sure Nan wasn't too impressed. But yeah, plenty of stories there.' King is eligible to play for England after being born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in 1997. His father, former Gold Coast forward David King, spent more than a decade playing professionally in the Old Dart. Max's mother is English, and he expressed interest in playing for the Lions at the 2022 World Cup but was not required. 'I thought I might have been a chance,' he said. 'There's a lot of great players in England. I was never filthy about missing out. 'Growing up as a kid in Australia, I don't think anyone grows up without wanting to play Origin or for Australia. Loading 'I'm definitely glad the way things have turned out. To be here representing my state, it couldn't have worked out better.' King said he called his grandparents from the Suncorp Stadium dressing rooms after the Origin I victory. 'They just said that they love me and are proud of me,' he said. 'It's so cool to ride this journey. It's not just my journey, it's my family's journey.'
