LIVERPOOL: Arsenal ensured they will spend Christmas Day on top of the Premier League as they held title rivals Liverpool to a pulsating 1-1 draw at Anfield on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta’s side took an early lead through Gabriel Magalhaes, but Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level before the interval.
A draw was arguably the right result after both sides flexed their muscles to show why they have emerged as the leading contenders to win the title.
Chasing a first title since 2004, Arsenal sit one point clear of second placed Liverpool heading into the festive period.
The team that has topped the Premier League at Christmas has gone on to win the title in six of the past 10 seasons, but the draw on Merseyside was also a boost to the chasing pack.
Third placed Aston Villa are level on points with Liverpool, fourth placed Tottenham are three points further back, while champions Manchester City are six points adrift of the leaders with a game in hand.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their past 11 games against Arsenal at Anfield.
However, coming a week after their goalless stalemate against Manchester United, this was another frustrating result for Jurgen Klopp’s team.
“Oh my god, how strong are they? The good news is we are good as well,” Klopp said.
“We pass instead of shoot, four or five times we do that, it’s a lesson. But generally the game is great.”
Arsenal weren’t completely satisfied either.
Last season they led 2-0 at Liverpool but ended up drawing 2-2, a result that started their collapse in the title race.
Their failure to hold on this time should not have such a damaging impact, but it was still a missed opportunity.
“Proud of the performance but the final pass went astray a few times. That’s where the frustration lies,” Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka said.
Klopp had urged Liverpool fans to give Arsenal the “proper Anfield experience” after saying he was unhappy with the atmosphere during Wednesday’s 5-1 rout of West Ham in the League Cup.
But Arteta was well aware of the maelstrom lying in wait, likening the visceral Anfield experience to being thrown around in a “washing machine.”
Responding to Klopp, the Liverpool faithful bellowed their ‘You’ll never walk alone’ anthem as loudly as ever before kick-off, but Arsenal took just 30 seconds to show they were unfazed.
A flowing move cut open the Liverpool defense and ended with Gabriel Jesus’s shot deflecting just over.
It was a warning and Arsenal took the lead after only four minutes.
Martin Odegaard delivered a perfect free-kick into the Liverpool area and Gabriel rose to thump his header past Alisson Becker from eight yards.
The Brazilian defender celebrated by cupping his hands to his ears in front of the Kop.
Anfield was stunned but not silenced. Falling behind was nothing new to Liverpool, who had trailed in eight other Premier League games this season and only lost one of them.
Liverpool were controversially denied a penalty by VAR when Odegaard handled in the area after slipping under pressure from Salah.
Salah took it upon himself to ensure Liverpool weren’t left to rue that debatable decision as the Egyptian conjured a superb 29th minute equalizer.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s raking pass picked out Salah down the right flank and he glided away from Oleksandr Zinchenko into the area before smashing a fierce strike past David Raya at his near post.
A thrilling half concluded with Arteta holding his head when Gabriel Martinelli shot wide moments after Saka ran through on goal but failed to finish.
Klopp’s men had the momentum after the break and Joe Gomez rifled inches wide, while Harvey Elliott’s long-range strike deflected onto the post.
They should have been in front in the 73rd minute when a break from an Arsenal corner climaxed with Salah teeing up Alexander-Arnold, but the ball took a slight bobble and his shot cannoned back off the crossbar with just Raya to beat.
As the relentless Red wave kept surging toward the Kop, Gomez’s effort drew a good stop from Raya, but Arsenal held on.
Arsenal hold Liverpool in title showdown to seal top spot at Christmas
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Arsenal hold Liverpool in title showdown to seal top spot at Christmas
- Mikel Arteta’s side took an early lead through Gabriel Magalhaes, but Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level before the interval
- Chasing a first title since 2004, Arsenal sit one point clear of second placed Liverpool heading into the festive period
Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win
- Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match
- Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga
LISBON: Sporting Lisbon defended their Portuguese crown on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Guimaraes to hold off rivals Benfica on the final day of the Primeira Liga season.
Both Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match after a tense 1-1 derby draw last weekend left the title race on a knife edge.
Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga, although even a victory would not have been enough as Rui Borges’ side triumphed and had the superior head-to-head.
Pedro Goncalves broke the deadlock in the second half and the division’s top goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres notched his 39th league goal of a stunning campaign to seal Sporting’s victory.
Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim led Sporting to last year’s title and after he departed in November was replaced by Joao Pereira, who only lasted six troubled weeks before Borges took over.
Sporting claimed their 21st Primeira division title and could make it a domestic double as they face Benfica next Sunday in the Portuguese cup final.
Crystal Palace’s Eze seals historic FA Cup final win against Man City
- Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes
- Omar Marmoush had first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season
LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze sparked a massive south London party by scoring the only goal to win the FA Cup 1-0 against Manchester City on Saturday and claim the club’s first major trophy in their history.
Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes, former Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson performed heroics in the Palace goal and City contrived to waste a sack-load of chances including a penalty in an enthralling final.
After England forward Eze, whose goals in the last eight and semis fired his team into the final for the third time, scored completely against the run of play, Palace had to survive a City siege to spark wild celebrations.
Omar Marmoush had a first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season, summing up a harrowing campaign in which they have been dethroned as the powerhouse of English football and will go without a domestic trophy for the first time since 2016-17.
For Palace’s massed ranks decked in purple and blue, it was a day of unbridled joy as Oliver Glasner’s team rode their luck to make it third time lucky after suffering defeats in their previous two FA Cup final appearances in 1990 and 2016.
Glasner, who took charge of the club 15 months ago, becomes the first Austrian coach to win the FA Cup.
City have been a pale imitation of the side that has dominated the English game for the most of the past decade.
But the way they began at Wembley suggested that Pep Guardiola’s side were determined to prove that talk of their demise had been greatly exaggerated.
Having picked an ultra-attacking lineup shorn of defensive midfielders, City hemmed Palace deep inside their own half for the opening 15 minutes with Kevin de Bruyne pulling the strings on what was his last Wembley appearance in City’s colors.
BRILLIANT HENDERSON
His lofted ball picked out Erling Haaland whose stretching effort at the far post was brilliantly saved by Henderson who shortly afterwards beat out Josko Gvardiol’s header.
Palace finally broke the siege and in their first foray beyond the halfway line they ripped through City’s lines.
Jean-Philippe Mateta played in Daniel Munoz and his cross was met by Eze who flashed a first-time volley past Stefan Ortega to provoke an eruption of noise from the Palace fans.
Ismaila Sarr nearly made it 2-0 but Ortega saved and Palace’s hearts were in their mouths when Henderson appeared to have handled the ball outside his area under pressure from Haaland but a subsequent VAR check spared him a possible red card.
There was no escape for Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell when he tripped Bernardo Silva and referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. Surprisingly, Haaland did not take it and instead Omar Marmoush stepped forward for his first penalty since joining City in January, but his effort lacked conviction and Henderson dived to his right to save.
Henderson made a flying save to keep out Jeremy Doku’s curling effort as Palace reached halftime ahead despite having only 19 percent of possession.
Munoz thought he had made it 2-0 just past the hour mark but a lengthy VAR check ruled his effort out for offside.
Seven-time winners City went close numerous times after the break with Henderson and his defenders performing heroics to preserve Palace’s lead.
A huge groan went up from the Palace fans as 10 minutes of stoppage time but after more close shaves and nail-biting the final whistle sounded and the club’s anthem Glad All Over bellowed around the stadium.
Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga
- Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification
- It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač
FRANKFURT: Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League on the last day of the Bundesliga on Saturday, leaving Freiburg to be content reaching the Europa League.
Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification after a 3-0 home win over already-relegated Holstein Kiel, which played with 10 men after less than 10 minutes.
It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač, who took over in February when Dortmund were languishing in 11th place. Dortmund won their last five Bundesliga games.
Frankfurt stayed third with a 3-1 win in Freiburg, which dropped to fifth as a result, two points behind Dortmund. Freiburg needed to win to qualify for the Champions League in place of Frankfurt.
Mainz overcame three disallowed goals and drew with Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 to qualify for the Conference League in sixth place, a point ahead of Leipzig, which missed out on European qualification after losing at home to Stuttgart 3-2.
Stuttgart next faces Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup final next weekend.
Kane scores again
Bayern Munich, which clinched the title with two rounds to spare, finished the season a 4-0 winner at Hoffenheim in Thomas Müller’s last Bundesliga game for the club. It was his 503rd.
Harry Kane replaced Müller for the last half hour and set up Serge Gnabry for Bayern’s third goal before he completed the scoring with his league-leading 26th.
It’s the second consecutive year Kane has finished as the Bundesliga top-scorer.
Leverkusen record
While Mainz were playing for European qualification, Leverkusen were thinking of the future in the last game for the club for coach Xabi Alonso and some players.
Mainz had two early goals ruled out for offside then another ruled out through VAR before Anthony Caci finally gave the home team a deserved lead.
But Leverkusen emerged a different side after the break. Patrik Schick scored twice to jeopardize Mainz’s European spot.
A Jonathan Burkardt penalty kept Mainz ahead of Leipzig, which twice squandered a lead against Stuttgart.
It was Leverkusen’s 34th away game without defeat, a new Bundesliga record.
Other results
Heidenheim stayed in the relegation playoff place after losing at home to Werder Bremen 4-1. Frank Schmidt’s team next faces a two-leg playoff against the side that finishes third in the second division to determine which play in the Bundesliga next season.
Bottom club Bochum, relegated last weekend, signed off with a 2-0 win at St. Pauli for their first victory since beating Bayern 3-2 away in early March.
Wolfsburg won at Borussia Mönchenglabach 1-0 and Union Berlin won in Augsburg 2-1.
Cameroon soccer great Emmanuel Kundé dies at age 68
- Kundé scored a penalty against England in the last eight of the 1990 World Cup
- “His death is a huge loss for Cameroonian soccer,” the country’s football federation said
YAOUNDE, Cameroon: Emmanuel Kundé, Cameroon’s defensive anchor on the first African team to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, has died, the country’s soccer federation said. He was 68.
Kundé scored a penalty against England in the last eight of the 1990 World Cup in Italy before the Indomitable Lions lost in extra time. He also played at the 1982 World Cup when Cameroon made its tournament debut.
“His death is a huge loss for Cameroonian soccer,” the country’s football federation said in a statement late Friday.
Federation president Samuel Eto’o hailed Kundé as the “control tower” and “defensive wall” on the field.
Kundé twice helped the team win the Africa Cup of Nations — in 1984 and 1988. His second-half penalty was the difference in Cameroon’s 1-0 victory over Nigeria in the ‘88 final in Casablanca.
He made over 100 appearances for the national team.
“He was an intelligent and peaceful man filled with dignity and had a precise magic foot,” Emmanuel Maboang Kessack, a former team member told The Associated Press. “We will never forget him.”
Kundé died of cardiac arrest in his own home, Maboang Kessack said.
Kundé also played club football in France for Reims and Laval, but his main team was Canon de Yaoundé in Cameroon’s capital.
Partying, celebrations not an excuse, Flick warns as champions Barca eye strong finish
- “A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse,” Flick told reporters
- “It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win”
BARCELONA: Barcelona players celebrated the club’s 28th LaLiga title with thousands of fans in an open-bus victory parade on Friday, but coach Hansi Flick was quick to remind them that the season was not over.
Flick, who has led Barcelona to the league title, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup in his debut season, said he needed his players to focus on finishing the campaign on a high.
“Yesterday was a day of celebration and rest. A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse. I want to finish the season as we started it,” Flick told reporters on Saturday, a day before hosting Villarreal.
“It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win. We want to end the season as champions. We haven’t lost in 2025 (in the league) and we want to keep it that way.”
Flick said he was overwhelmed by the passion of the supporters during the celebrations.
“It was incredible to see the faces, the passion of the people, how they celebrated. It was fantastic to see,” said the coach.
“To celebrate year after year would be amazing. Maybe we can do it again next year. We will work for it. It’s everyone’s title.”
Flick said his team would face a difficult task against fifth-placed Villarreal, with the visitors looking to ensure Champions League qualification with a top-five finish going into the last two matches of the campaign.
“We’re playing against great teams and Villarreal have done a fantastic job, they have won their last four games. You can see the hand of their coach and they have key players,” he added.
Asked if he could start with 11 home-grown players on Sunday, Flick said the idea had been discussed at the club.
“To be honest, we’ve talked about it internally, but we haven’t decided. It could be. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see how the team is,” he said.
