LONDON: Arsenal thumped Liverpool 4-1 to close to within four points of Premier League leaders Chelsea and Manchester United also retained their slim title hopes by beating Aston Villa on Saturday.

With Chelsea in action later against Stoke City, Arsenal applied a little pressure to Jose Mourinho’s side by sweeping away Liverpool before halftime at The Emirates where Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were all on target.

Olivier Giroud sealed victory in the final minute after a Jordan Henderson penalty had raised the hopes of fifth-placed Liverpool, who also had Emre Can sent off late in the game.

Ander Herrera scored twice and Wayne Rooney once with a spectacular strike as Manchester United moved above champions Manchester City, who visit Crystal Palace on Monday, into third place with a 3-1 home win over Aston Villa.

Chelsea have 67 points from 29 games with Arsenal on 63 and United 62, both from 31 matches. Liverpool are drifting away on 54 points.

It was a good day for teams striving to avoid relegation with bottom club Leicester City 2-1 home winners over West Ham United and 18th-placed Queens Park Rangers crushing West Bromwich Albion 4-1 for a rare away win.

Hull City’s worries deepened, however, after a 3-1 loss at Swansea City while Southampton’s hopes of a top-four spot look forlorn after a 1-0 defeat at Everton left them in sixth place.

Arsenal scored three times in a dizzying eight-minute spell immediately prior to half-time, with Bellerin, Ozil, from a direct free-kick, and Sanchez on target.

Henderson hit back with a 76th-minute penalty after Bellerin felled Raheem Sterling, but after Can was sent off for two bookable offences, Giroud slammed home Arsenal’s fourth in stoppage time.

“It was a very great day,” said Arsenal manager Wenger. “It was an important game today. We had the chance to make a difference with Liverpool and we took the chance.

“Their keeper kept them in the game and then they had a good chance before we scored, but we were focused, clinical, and I think if you look at the table and see the number of goals we score, it’s no coincidence.”

Beaten 2-1 by Manchester United before the international break, Liverpool have now lost twice in succession and were left seven points below the top four.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admitted that it would be “very, very difficult” for his side — previously unbeaten in 13 games — to secure a place in the top four and return to the Champions League.

“It was a game we needed to take something from,” he told BT Sport. “Today is a big disappointment, but we didn’t defend well enough in key moments of the game.”

City slipped to fourth place after United sank Villa at Old Trafford with Herrera drilling them in front in the 43rd minute from Daley Blind’s cut-back.

Rooney made it 2-0 with a glorious strike 11 minutes from time, killing substitute Angel di Maria’s cross with his left foot and slamming an unstoppable shot into the top-left corner with his right.

David de Gea uncharacteristically allowed Christian Benteke’s weak shot to creep beneath him at the other end a minute later, but Herrera steered home a pass from Juan Mata in added time to make victory secure.

Liverpool are also at risk of being overtaken by Tottenham Hotspur, who visit Burnley on Sunday.

But Southampton spurned a chance to move into the top five after Phil Jagielka’s 16th-minute goal saw them beaten at Everton.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2015

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