In the Premier League, the penultimate round of fixtures saw the title race tighten. Currently in second place, Manchester City narrowly beat Crystal Palace by 1-0, ushering in a third consecutive victory. Meanwhile, the top of the table "Arsenal" in yesterday's score of 3-0 victory over Fulham, successfully recovered five points advantage. Belgium international Leandro Trossard set a new EPL record with a hat-trick of assists. And manager Mikel Arteta also ushered in the 100th victory in his coaching career.
Manchester City took the lead against Crystal Palace in the 27th round of the English Premier League. Norwegian striker Erling Haaland scored a crucial penalty in the 78th minute of the match to help City win 1-0 on the road. The match also kept City's four-game winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak in all competitions alive. After the match, Harland even issued a challenge to the Arsenal: "I'm enjoying every second on the road to the title. We're going to play the Arsenal at home. Everything is still up in the air."
The recently transferred Trossard shook off a groin injury to make his debut in the Arsenal's clash with Fulham. In the first half, he assisted Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and captain Martin Odegaard in that order, becoming the first Premier League player to deliver three first-half assists away from home.
In the second half, Arsenal brought on Gabriel Jesus, a Brazilian international who was injured during last year's World Cup in Qatar. Although he almost scored after his comeback, it was eventually saved by former Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno. In the end, the Gunners beat Fulham 3-0, gifting Arteta his 100th win since taking over the reins at the Arsenal in 2019, in just 167 games.
After this round of matches, the Arsenal has 21 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses with 66 points ahead of Manchester City's 61 points, and the two teams have opened up a points gap of more than 10 points with other teams. Manchester United, who drew 0-0 with relegation contenders Southampton, gained only one point and are now in third place with 50 points. Tottenham Hotspur, on the other hand, are in fourth place with 48 points.
