MANCHESTER: Manch­ester City thrashed Liverpool 4-1 on Saturday but remain eight points adrift of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League after Gabriel Jesus scored twice in the Gunners’ 4-1 win over Leeds United.

In the clash between the two sides that have dominated English football over the past five years, City were a class apart despite the absence of Erling Haaland due to injury.

Liverpool went in front through Mohamed Salah’s 23rd goal of the season but were blown away in the second half after Julian Alvarez brought City level when he lashed in after a cross from Jack Grealish in the 27th minute, following a beautiful build-up move by City.

Pep Guardiola’s men needed less than a minute in the second period to go in front as Kevin De Bruyne tapped home a low cross from Riyad Mahrez that beat diving Liverpool keeper Alisson.

City then put their foot on the gas as Liverpool lost steam, with Ilkay Gundogan scoring in the 53rd, slotting in a rebound from an Alvarez shot.

Grealish, one of City’s most lively players throughout the match, rounded off his best performance in a City shirt with a fine finish for the fourth in the 74th minute — sending many Liverpool fans to the exits on a humbling afternoon.

“Now it’s the Jack we thought. Aston Villa fans know this Jack,” said Guardiola of Grealish, who joined for a Premier League record 100 million in 2021. “Nothing changed, it’s just a question of believing I am part of that, and I can be here.”

A sobering defeat is another blow to Liverpool’s hopes of a top-four finish as the Reds slip to eighth in the table.

Juergen Klopp’s team have now lost three straight games since routing Manchester United 7-0 last month.

“In the end, we had moments but in general how we lost everything, unacceptable,” Klopp said. The Liverpool manager said “four-ish” of his players “had an OK game, and the rest were somewhere I don’t know.”

Arsenal did not feel the pressure of City briefly cutting the gap before kick-off at the Emirates as Jesus marked his first league start since November with a double.

Bukayo Saka was handed a rare rest by Mikel Arteta and Jesus took responsibility from the penalty spot in his absence to open the scoring 10 minutes before half-time.

Jesus was sidelined for three months after picking up a knee injury at the World Cup but the former City forward’s return for the run-in could deny his old club a fifth title in six years.

Ben White doubled Arsenal’s advantage from Gabriel Martinelli’s pass before Brazilian Jesus struck again from close range in the 55th minute from Leandro Trossard’s assist.

“Everyone is playing so well. It is easy to come back. The most important thing is that everyone that has come in has played good,” Jesus said.

Rasmus Kristensen pulled a goal back for Leeds, but Granit Xhaka rounded off the scoring as Arsenal’s seventh successive league win moved them to 72 points from 29 games with City, who still have to play the London club at home, on 64 having played one game less.

Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford shared the points after a thrilling 3-3 draw.

Three times Brentford led at the Amex through Pontus Jansson, Ivan Toney and Ethan Pinnock. But the Seagulls grabbed a deserved point thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s late penalty after Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck also equalised in the first half.

A point apiece sees both sides edge above Liverpool and within six points of the top four.

Roy Hodgson’s return at Crystal Palace delivered the Eagles’ first victory of 2023 as Jean Philippe-Mateta’s 94th minute goal beat Leicester City 2-1 at Selhurst Park.

The Foxes looked on course for a much-needed win when Ricardo Pereira fired home on 56 minutes.

But Eberechi Eze’s free-kick hit the woodwork and deflected in off Leicester goalkeeper Daniel Iversen to quickly get Palace level before Mateta cooly slotted home at the death.

Defeat sees Leicester slip into the relegation zone after Bournemouth came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 thanks to goals from Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke.

Nottingham Forest and Wolverha­mpton Wanderers remain just outside the bottom three after a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.

Daniel Podence struck seven minutes from time to snatch a draw for the visitors after Brennan Johnson opened the scoring for Forest.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2023