By Martyn Herman April 11 (Reuters) - Arsenal suffered a painful blow to their Premier League title hopes with a 2-1 home defeat nL1N40U04X by Bournemouth, while Liverpool boosted their push for a
Arsenal Stumble in Premier League Title Race as Liverpool Revive Hopes
Premier League Weekend Recap: Title Race, Champions League Battle, and Relegation Drama
By Martyn Herman
April 11 (Reuters) - Arsenal suffered a painful blow to their Premier League title hopes with a 2-1 home defeat nL1N40U04X by Bournemouth, while Liverpool boosted their push for a Champions League place with a comfortable 2-0 win over Fulham at Anfield on Saturday.
In the battle of unlikely top-five contenders, Brentford and Everton battled out a 2-2 draw.
Arsenal's Title Hopes Dented
Alex Scott's winner for Bournemouth at The Emirates threw the title race wide open as leaders Arsenal laboured to a first league defeat in nine games.
The London club remain on 70 points, nine clear of second-placed Manchester City, but Pep Guardiola's side have two games in hand starting with Sunday's trip to Chelsea and host Arsenal next weekend. Bournemouth are up to 10th on 45 points.
Manager Reaction
"Extremely disappointing. It's a big punch in the face," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. "We were very far from the level that we're expecting, that's for sure."
Match Summary
In their first Premier League match for almost a month, Arsenal could have built a 12-point cushion with six games left to play, but could have few complaints as Bournemouth emerged with a deserved three points to boost their European hopes.
Bournemouth took the lead when 19-year-old Eli Junior Kroupi turned in a deflected cross at the far post in the 17th minute.
Record-Breaking Performance
The French youngster has now scored 10 times in the top flight this season -- the first teenager to reach that mark in his debut campaign in the Premier League since Robbie Keane for Coventry City in the 1999-2000 season.
Arsenal struggled to respond but got a helping hand when Bournemouth's Ryan Christie was adjudged to have blocked a shot with his arm, allowing Viktor Gyokeres to equalise from the spot in the 35th -- his 11th goal in all competitions this year.
The anxious hosts huffed and puffed in search of a winner and Gyokeres had a goal disallowed but it was Bournemouth who struck again as Scott was played in by Evanilson and finished calmly past David Raya in the 74th minute.
Intriguing Battle for Champions League Spots
INTRIGUING BATTLE FOR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOTS
With UEFA confirming that the top five clubs in the Premier League will all qualify for next season's Champions League, the battle to join Europe's elite is set for an intriguing finale.
Liverpool's Revival
Liverpool remain fifth on 52 points, four ahead of Chelsea, with a victory nL1N40U06Q that featured teenaged winger Rio Ngumoha becoming the club's youngest player to score a Premier League goal at Anfield.
Ngumoha and Salah Shine
The 17-year-old -- already the team's youngest scorer thanks to his goal at Newcastle United in August when he was 16 -- etched his name alongside another record when he unleashed a rocket into the far corner in the 36th minute.
Mohamed Salah doubled the lead with a first-time finish into the far corner after 40 minutes. The 33-year-old, who is leaving at the end of the season after nine remarkable years, tapped a hand to his Liverpool shirt crest and gave a wave to the crowd.
"It's a better place than it was two or three days ago or a week ago," said Liverpool boss Arne Slot as his side ended a run of three straight losses in all competitions,. "But it's also not that after we win all of a sudden everything is good again.
"I was really happy with a clean sheet. That's what you need in almost every game," he told Sky Sports
Fulham are 11th on 44 points.
Brentford's Thiago Scores Again
BRENTFORD'S THIAGO SCORES AGAIN
Brentford were tipped as relegation contenders at the start of the season after losing some of their top players and seeing manager Thomas Frank depart to Tottenham Hotspur.
Brentford's Resurgence
But under Keith Andrews they have prospered and are putting pressure on the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.
They will be kicking themselves though after twice leading against Everton but only taking a point.
Thiago's Record-Breaking Season
Igor Thiago's double took his top-flight tally this season to 21, making him the highest-scoring Brentford player in a single Premier League campaign, overtaking Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney, who both hit 20.
But Everton's Beto cancelled out Thiago's opener and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored a stoppage-time equaliser for the visitors.
The result left Brentford and Everton in seventh and eighth spots respectively with both on 47 points from 32 games.
Brighton & Hove Albion Keep European Hopes Alive
Brighton & Hove Albion kept their own European ambitions alive as they beat Burnley 2-0 https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/brightons-red-hot-form-has-club-dreaming-return-european-football-2026-04-11/ with a double from Mats Wieffer at Turf Moor, which moved his side to ninth on 46 points.
It was a third successive league win for Brighton while second-from-bottom Burnley look almost certain to be relegated as they are 12 points off the safety zone with six games left.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
