Liverpool were handed a boost in their bid to win the Premier League title after Manchester City dropped points. Pep Guardiola's side were held to a goalless draw with Crystal Palace on Monday night.
The Reds are now four points behind Man City in the league table with a game in hand, as they take on Arsenal on Wednesday night. With the title race having yet another shock result, plenty of national media outlets have reacted to Liverpool’s chances of lifting the trophy.
Here is a round-up of what they had to say about Man City dropping points at Palace.
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Jack Gaughan, via the Mail Online
“Air inside the trains and coaches down from the north filled with the same chat. Manchester City, their supporters and staff, were nervous about this one. Very nervous, actually.
“Sometimes in football that is unexplainable. Based on just a feeling: an impending sense of doom for no real reason. Doom, during these ridiculous days of City and Liverpool dominance, happens to be a draw at a very good Crystal Palace. Funny game.
“Anxiety might have felt misplaced beforehand but easily explained by the time Jack Grealish and Pep Guardiola were both exchanging words with the opposition as they trudged off. Palace dealt a major blow to this club's hunt for a fourth Premier League crown in five years.
“Anything but victories will just not do for either City or Liverpool now. That is the bar and that is why this draw could prove seismic when momentum is everything. Here we have a title race that is evoking memories of 2019 - this is what we want, not the canters of the previous two campaigns. Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp might well argue differently.
“City will not believe how they have allowed Liverpool back in, the gap now down to four points ahead of Wednesday's game in hand with Arsenal. Guardiola – who will be watching that - witnessed his team hit the woodwork twice and basically miss two open goals. As such, they only have themselves to blame. Conor Gallagher might have made it even worse in stoppage time, firing over when John Stones erred.”
Alyson Rudd, via The Times
“There were no goals but that would not have stopped the celebrations on Merseyside sounding as if this was a nine-goal thriller. Manchester City, in terms of chances created, should have extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points.
“Instead, they dropped two and handed the advantage to Liverpool, who face Arsenal tomorrow, in the title race. Should Liverpool win at the Emirates, they will be one point behind City, setting up the title race as one of the most tense and enthralling we have seen.
“Two months ago the gap between Jürgen Klopp’s side and City was 14 points so those who said that the meeting between City and Liverpool on April 10 would come too late to mean much were not so much foolish as fatalistic.
“This was a feather in the cap of Patrick Vieira, who has wrested four points off City this season and although his team rode their luck, their unflappability and sheer hard work was at the heart of keeping Pep Guardiola’s team at bay.”
Mick Ames, via The Guardian
“We cannot say nobody warned us. Pep Guardiola had claimed earlier this month that Manchester City were enjoying a “fake lead” at the top; the reality now is that their cushion will be cut to a single point if Liverpool win at Arsenal on Wednesday and, while that is far from a sure thing, a title race might just have broken out.
“It is game on and, should City blow it, they may look back on this as the occasion things turned. They had a rare off night against an intelligent, punchy Crystal Palace and only created chances consistently during a purple patch in the first half. Blinking at this particular point could cost them, but anyone wanting a genuine contest over the season’s remainder will now feel enriched.
“Patrick Vieira, serenaded lustily from the stands long after full-time, may come to have played a deciding role in his former club’s season. City had only dropped five points since Palace beat them at the Etihad in October; this time their opponents had few chances to score, enjoying flurries that could have wrought more severe damage with more composure on the break, but their endeavours were another gift to Jürgen Klopp.”
Jason Burt, via The Telegraph
“The tightest of Premier League title races just got even tighter. Manchester City did extend their lead over Liverpool but they only inched it forward and they can feel the hot breath on their shoulder.
“After this goalless draw – just how did it stay goalless? – the advantage is only four points and there is the air of the hunted about the champions. Fifty-eight days ago City were 14 points clear.
“Liverpool had two games in hand then and it is one now. Can they capitalise when they themselves are in the capital on Wednesday evening, when they will face Arsenal?
“How they will be buoyed by this result that was yet another emphatic testimony as to the glorious commitment that sums up this league.”
