London: Liverpool’s title hopes in the Premier League suffered a massive blow on Wednesday night as they were beaten 2-0 away to Everton at Goodison Park.
The result leaves Liverpool with 74 points, three points behind Arsenal, with four games left to play, and a point above Manchester City, who has played two games less and faces Brighton on Thursday, reported Xinhua.
Everton deserved the win that lifts them eight points above the relegation zone, with Jarrad Branthwaite scoring their first goal midway through the first half, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin took advantage of some poor defending to score their second following a second-half corner.
It is only Everton’s second win against their neighbors in 27 Liverpool derbies.
Manchester United twice came back from behind to win 4-2 at home to Sheffield United and moves into sixth place.
Sheffield went ahead two times at Old Trafford, thanks to goals from Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton, but was pegged back by Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes.
A second goal from Fernandes with just nine minutes left put United ahead, and Rasmus Hojlund assured the win with five minutes left to play.
Newcastle United failed to keep pace with Erik ten Hag’s side as Crystal Palace continued their excellent form under Oliver Glasner to win 2-0 thanks to two second-half goals from Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Crystal Palace is now mathematically safe from relegation, while Newcastle has dropped to three points behind Manchester United.
Wednesday’s final game saw Antoine Semenyo score the only goal of the game as Bournemouth won 1-0 away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the visitors hanging on for a win after Milos Kerkez’s 79th-minute sending off.
On Tuesday night, Arsenal returned to the top of the table with a 5-0 thrashing of a hapless Chelsea side in a result that will cast doubts over Mauricio Pochettino’s long-term future in the wake of their weekend’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester City, which meant they will end the season without a trophy.
–IANS