By PA Sport Staff
Manchester City retained their slender lead at the Premier League summit as their crunch clash with title rivals Liverpool ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw.
Kevin De Bruyne fired the champions into a fifth-minute lead at the Etihad Stadium but Diogo Jota levelled eight minutes later for the second-placed Reds.
Gabriel Jesus restored City’s advantage before the break but Sadio Mane marked his 30th birthday with a second equaliser for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Raheem Sterling thought he had put City ahead for a third time against his former club but VAR ruled against him in a tight offside decision and substitute Riyad Mahrez hit the post late on.
A remarkable encounter finishes with the points shared#MCILIV pic.twitter.com/STIMCZhSsi
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 10, 2022
The result ended Liverpool’s 10-match winning league run and left City a point clear with just seven games of the season remaining.
Goals from Pierre Lees-Melou and Teemu Pukki helped reinvigorate Norwich’s slim survival hopes with a 2-0 home win over relegation rivals Burnley.
The Canaries were 10 points from safety before kick-off, but Lees-Melou’s early deflected strike gave Dean Smith’s men a precious lead and Pukki’s composed finish late on clinched a first Premier League victory in nine attempts.
It could be too little too late for bottom club Norwich, who remain in a perilous position but at least has kept 18th-placed Burnley within touching distance and dealt a serious blow to the visitors’ own chances of beating the drop.
Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney combined to sink West Ham 2-0 and surely banish any lingering relegation fears for Brentford.
Two second-half goals lifted the Bees 12 points clear of the Premier League drop zone after a Sunday afternoon stroll in the west London sunshine.
Mbeumo lashed in the opener after being teed up by Toney, and then returned the favour for his strike partner as Toney grabbed his 14th goal of the season.
For West Ham it was another dent in their fading hopes of a top-four finish, and they were also dealt a potentially massive blow with Thursday night’s Europa League second leg against Lyon in mind when defender Kurt Zouma was forced to limp out of the action midway through the first half.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall inspired Leicester to a narrow 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
What. A. Feeling. 😍 pic.twitter.com/m2e4B4uMMO
— KDH (@KDH__8) April 10, 2022
The midfielder’s first Premier League goal came after a sublime assist for Ademola Lookman’s opener to give the Foxes the perfect preparation for Thursday’s trip to PSV.
They go to Eindhoven for their Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg with the tie poised at 0-0 but have momentum after just two defeats in their last 10 outings.
Kasper Schmeichel saved two Wilfried Zaha penalties – after VAR ordered a retake – only for the striker to nod in the rebound from the second which gave Palace second-half hope.
But a leveller never came and the Foxes move above Palace to ninth in the Premier League. The Eagles saw a seven-game unbeaten run come to an end, which had propelled them to Wembley for next week’s FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea.
