Thursday’s briefing: Liverpool march on and Arsenal face another setback | OneFootball

Runaway leaders Liverpool continued their relentless march towards the Premier League title by moving 13 points clear with a 2-0 win over Newcastle.

Arsenal’s faltering challenge suffered another setback as they were held to a goalless draw at third-placed Nottingham Forest, while Manchester City moved back into the top four on an evening when Manchester United survived a scare against relegation-threatened Ipswich.

At Wembley, the Lionesses partially avenged defeat in the 2023 World Cup final by producing a “proper English” performance to beat Spain.

Reds romp further clear

In a dress rehearsal for next month’s Carabao Cup final, Liverpool swatted aside Newcastle to take another step towards a second Premier League title in five years.

Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister moved the Merseyside club closer to a record-equalling 20th championship trophy as manager Arne Slot watched from the stands due to a touchline ban.

Toothless Arsenal, meanwhile, dropped more points in their increasingly futile pursuit of the Reds following a stalemate at the City Ground.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said his side would concede the title “over my dead body” but, playing without a recognised striker, the visitors managed just one shot on target and could not convincingly respond to Saturday’s 1-0 home loss to West Ham.

Haaland back with a bang

Erling Haaland scored his 20th top-flight goal of the season as Manchester City put their top-four push back on track with a 1-0 victory at Tottenham.

Pep Guardiola’s men bounced back from Sunday’s home defeat to leaders Liverpool to leapfrog Chelsea into the final Champions League spot.

Top scorer Haaland, who missed the weekend defeat to the Reds and last week’s European elimination at the hands of Real Madrid due to a knee issue, was denied a late second due to an adjudged handball.

Amid a challenging campaign for his reigning champions, City boss Guardiola said: “Old City were too good, but we will be back.”

Maguire spares Dorgu’s blushes

Harry Maguire’s header earned 10-man Manchester United a hard-fought 3-2 win against lowly Ipswich and saved Patrick Dorgu’s blushes after his part in a calamitous opener was compounded by a first-half red card.

United eased some of the negativity around Old Trafford and helped quell any talk of relegation by emerging victorious from Wednesday’s helter-skelter battle to end a three-match winless run in the Premier League.

Dorgu was dismissed for a high challenge on Omari Hutchinson in the 41st minute after the hosts responded to his disastrous mix-up with Andre Onana, which gifted Jaden Philogene an early opener, to lead courtesy of Sam Morsy’s own goal and a Matthijs de Ligt effort.

Philogene’s second of the evening brought the Tractor Boys level before Maguire nodded home a Bruno Fernandes corner to prevent embarrassment for Ruben Amorim’s side.

“Proper English” performance

Millie Bright hailed a “proper English” approach from the Lionesses following an impressive 1-0 Nations League victory over Spain.

Jess Park scored the 33rd-minute winner at Wembley in the first meeting of the countries since Spain edged the 2023 World Cup final in Australia.

England’s performance was a much more cohesive effort than their 1-1 draw with Portugal on Friday, and one Sarina Wiegman’s side will hope sends a message ahead of their European title defence in Switzerland this summer.

“We spoke about just being proper English and having that fight and that desire to defend for each other, work hard for each other and be hard to beat,” said Chelsea captain Bright.

“It was outstanding.”

What’s on today?

Struggling Leicester will look to ease mounting pressure on manager Ruud van Nistelrooy when they travel to West Ham.

The second-bottom Foxes are five points from safety following three successive defeats without scoring.

Graham Potter’s Hammers are hoping to build on a London derby victory at Arsenal.