FIGHT TO THE FINISH

JOHN LYONS LOOKS AT HOW THE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE RACE IS SHAPING UP AS WE APPROACH SQUEAKY-BUM TIME..

AS THE final international break of the season drew to a close, attention swiftly turned back to the Premier League – and it didn’t disappoint.

On a scintillating Saturday, there was drama all the way from Newcastle’s come-from-behind 4-3 thriller against West Ham to Brentford’s 1-1 draw against Manchester United.

It whetted the appetite for the following day’s double bill, which saw the three protagonists for the top-flight title all in action. After falling behind to an early Danny Welbeck cracker, it wasn’t really any great surprise that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool rallied to beat Brighton 2-1 with goals from Luis Diaz and Mo Salah.

The victory took the Reds above Arsenal to the summit, ahead of the Gunners’ big showdown at Manchester City. After all that had gone before that Easter weekend, we couldn’t wait to see Pep Guardiola’s men lock horns with Mikel Arteta’s troops. Surely we were in for another classic encounter?

Well, we couldn’t have been more wrong. City were stifled by a resilient Arsenal side who were clearly more than happy to return from the north-west with a point from a goalless draw.

The onus had been on Pep’s side to go for the victory, but even their stars were subdued. Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were expertly shackled by the north Londoners and it was clear well before the end that City had run out of ideas.

As a frustrated Guardiola talked animatedly to sub Jack Grealish on the pitch at the end of the game, you could see what the treble-winning boss thought of it – not a lot.