dyton mupawaenda
LIVERPOOL need no favours to win the Premier League, but the neighbours did them one anyway.
Everton denied Arsenal victory, courtesy of a controversial penalty, effectively ending their forlorn pursuit of the leaders in the process.
Mikel Arteta did not rage against the dying of the light on his return to Goodison Park.
The game is up and he knows it.
Arsenal took the lead through Leandro Trossard’s fine first-half finish, dominated possession and edged the chances, but never performed with the conviction or quality of serious title contenders.
They paid the price when Myles Lewis-Skelly was adjudged to have fouled Jack Harrison inside the area, presenting Iliman Ndiaye with the penalty that earned Everton a fifth draw in six games.
The upshot is that Liverpool need 11 points from eight games to seal their 20th league title and Arsenal may have to form a guard of honour at Anfield when they return to Merseyside on May 11.
Arteta complained about the penalty, but cannot legitimately take issue with the destiny of the championship.
“We deserved more,” he said.
“The referee decides to give a penalty and that changes the course of the game.
“I’ve seen it 15 times. There’s no way that’s a penalty. Because if it is, then (Jake) O’Brien has to be out and Everton has to play with 10 men. After that we dominated the game.”
David Moyes chose the diplomatic option about the penalty that edged Everton closer to guaranteed safety.
“I’ve watched it zero times so couldn’t tell you,” he said. “But I’m really satisfied. It’s been a difficult week against the teams first and second in the league and we’ve given both of them decent games.”
Arteta attributed a changed team selection to fitness problems after the win over Fulham on Tuesday.
There was no doubt, however, that Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid was on his mind and his priority with Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Thomas Partey all on the bench.
Ipswich’s hopes of retaining their Premier status took a huge knock as they lost 2-1 at home to Wolves. The visitors came from behind to extend the gap between the two clubs to 12 points with just seven games remaining.
Ipswich took the lead through Liam Delap after 16 minutes but Pablo Sarabia equalised in the 72nd minute and Jørgen Strand Larsen completed the turnaround with six minutes remaining.
It could have been worse for Ipswich following a dreadful first half error by goalkeeper Alex Palmer, who almost handed a goal to Wolves but recovered after a backpass went under his foot.
Wolves’ Brazilian international João Gomes came close to opening the scoring with a rasping shot that went just over the Ipswich bar, following a one-two with Rayan Aït-Nouri.
Palmer got down to deflect an angled shot from Strand Larsen for a corner after 10 minutes, before the Suffolk side took the lead six minutes later.
Axel Tuanzebe drifted a pass out to Dara O’Shea, who beat Aït-Nouri in the air and headed the ball into the danger area for Delap to poke home from close range for his 12th goal of the season. There was a delay before the goal was allowed, after VAR checked for a possible offside.
Moments later, Aït-Nouri’s corner from the right evaded everyone and was going in until O’Shea made a superb clearance on the line under pressure from Toti.
An error by Palmer in the 36th minute resulted in the ball going under his foot following a backpass from O’Shea but the goalkeeper recovered and managed to claw the ball away at the last moment.
Referee Peter Bankes awarded a free-kick on the six-yard line with all 11 Ipswich players on the goal line but Emmanuel Agbadou’s shot struck the wall and was cleared to safety.
There were appeals for a penalty when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Andre and the visitors equalised with 18 minutes remaining through Sarabia. Strand Larsen controlled the ball in the penalty area and clipped it back to the edge of the box. Sarabia’s first attempt was blocked by Jens Cajuste but his follow-up found the bottom corner.
And the visitors deservedly took the lead through Strand Larsen, despite a lengthy VAR check. Sarabia cushioned a first-time cross through substitute Leif Davis’ legs and the Wolves and Norwegian striker bundled the ball in from close range.
The 2 955 Wolves fans among the 29 549 crowd inside the stadium chanted “we are staying up” at the final whistle.
And this has been a very, very long time coming for Crystal Palace supporters.
The last time they were able to celebrate doing the double over Brighton in the 1932-1933 season in the old Division Three South, the two clubs were not even rivals and it would be another 14 years before Roy Hodgson was born.
But with an FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa to come later this month, Daniel Muñoz’s winner at the start of the second half made it another memorable afternoon for Oliver Glasner’s side after Danny Welbeck had cancelled out Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 13th Premier League goal of the season. — guardian.com
Online Reporter
Tinaye Agere