Aston Villa, Eze dent Arsenal, Liverpool’s title hopes

On one of the craziest days in the 2003/24 English Premier League, Arsenal and Liverpool contrived to lose at home to Aston Villa and Crystal Palace respectively, and hand the title initiative to defending champions, Manchester City.

City had beaten Luton 5-1 on Saturday to climb to the top of the league on 73 points, but Liverpool and Arsenal were expected to routinely beat Villa and Palace to get back to the second and first positions.

But the outsiders had other ideas.The day started with Liverpool losing to Crystal Palace with Eberechi Eze’s goal making the difference.

Even when Liverpool took total control of the game in the second half, they found the equalizer hard to come by. That loss prompted pundits to tip Arsenal to reclaim the lead and open a two-way race with Man City.

But that was not to be as Unai Emery, who coached Arsenal for two years in his first foray into English football, masterminded a classic counter-attacking game that saw Arsenal chasing shadows.

After holding Arsenal at bay for 80 minutes, Leon Bailey gave Emery’s side the lead in the 84th when he latched on a loose ball to silence the Emirates’ crowd. It became worse for the Gunners in the 87th minute when Ollie Watkins outraced Emile Smith Rowe to confirm the victory for the Villains.

Man City lead the table with 73 points, while Arsenal and Liverpool are second and third respectively on 71 points.

Aston Villa climbed to the fourth and last Champions League spot on 63 points with yesterday’s win.