In the English Premier League, Crystal Palace delivered the final nail in the coffin of Man City’s unconvincing title bid by snatching a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium in the dying moments.
Sergio Aguero scored twice to complete a stunning turnaround after Palace spent much of the game in front, but the Eagles weren’t done yet.
With time running out, Wilfried Zaha’s cross was deflected in by Fernandinho to leave the champions 13 points behind Liverpool having played two games more.
Wolves staged a dramatic fightback to come from two goals down and beat Southampton 3-2 at St Mary’s. Saints looked on course to extend their remarkable run of results when Jan Bednarek and Shane Long put them ahead in the first-half. But Pedro Neto pulled one back quickly after the break, before Raul Jimenez’s double kept Wolves’ hopes of a top-four finish well and truly alive.
There was also heartbreak for Chelsea, who suffered a stoppage-time defeat at Newcastle in the evening kick-off. Chelsea would have cemented their grip on fourth place with a win on Tyneside, but they were unable to muster the cutting edge required to break down stubborn Newcastle and fell to Isaac Hayden’s header with just 20 seconds left in stoppage-time, losing 1-0.
This gives the Blues’ nearest rivals to finish fourth, Manchester United, the chance to reduce the gap on them. The Red Devils face runaway leaders Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
Chelsea’s first defeat in four league matches leaves them five points clear of fifth-placed Manchester United. After four league games without a victory, this was a much-needed success for Newcastle, but a wasted opportunity for Chelsea to open up a bigger gap in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
At Vicarage Road, Troy Deeney’s 70th-minute spot-kick was saved by Paulo Gazzaniga before Tottenham’s Erik Lamela was denied a last-gasp winner by Ignacio Pussetto’s goal-line clearance.
With England captain Harry Kane sidelined after hamstring surgery, Tottenham have gone three league games without scoring.
Jose Mourinho’s side are without a win in four league matches since December 26 and sit eight points behind Chelsea.
Toothless Tottenham thought they had stolen the points in stoppage-time when Lamela flicked Serge Aurier’s cross towards goal, but Watford’s new signing Pussetto cleared off the line, with goal-line technology showing just 10.04mm of the ball had not gone over.
“I know it was only a couple of millimetres but goal-line technology does not make mistakes like VAR. We have to accept it was not a goal,” Mourinho said.
Arsenal are 10 points adrift of the top four after the Blades continued their superb first season back in the Premier League.
Gabriel Martinelli, 18, broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage-time at the Emirates Stadium with a clinical finish from Bukayo Saka’s cross.
But Chris Wilder’s side snatched an 83rd-minute equaliser when John Fleck lashed home after Arsenal failed to clear.
Bottom of the table Norwich’s vital 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Bournemouth saw the pitchside monitor finally used to decide a red card call.
Norwich took the lead when Bournemouth defender Steve Cook was sent off after flinging himself across the goal to block Teemu Pukki’s shot with his hand.
Pukki fired home the resulting penalty in the 33rd minute, but the Canaries had to survive a tense finish after Ben Godfrey was sent off in the 76th minute.
Godfrey’s foul on Callum Wilson was ruled a red card by referee Paul Tierney after he checked with the monitor, a move that followed advice to officials from Premier League chiefs this week to use the screen more often.
Wolves climbed to sixth after a 3-2 win at Southampton, Everton drew 1-1 at West Ham and Brighton shared a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
With AFP and Talk Sport
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