LONDON: Arsenal cleared arguably the most dangerous remaining obstacle in their path to the Premier League title by the skin of their teeth as Leandro Trossard’s late goal secured a dramatic 1-0 win at West Ham United to restore their five-point lead on Sunday.

The visitors were living dangerously at the London Stadium but Trossard guided home a low shot from Martin Odegaard’s pass in the 83rd minute to spark delirium amongst the Arsenal fans and despair in the home ranks.

Arsenal rode their luck and survived a huge scare deep in stoppage time as West Ham substitute Callum Wilson had an equaliser ruled out for a foul after a long VAR review.

Victory put Arsenal a step closer to a first Premier League title since 2004 and they will be crowned champions if they win their last two games at home to Burnley and away to Crystal Palace on the final day.

Arsenal have 79 points from 36 games with Manchester City, who have a game in hand, on 74.

For West Ham it was a bitter pill to swallow as defeat left them staring at relegation and they could find themselves four points from the safety zone with two games left if Tottenham Hotspur beat Leeds United on Monday.

Villa held at Burnley

Earlier, Aston Villa blew the chance to close in on Champions League football next season with a 2-2 draw at already-relegated Burnley.

Villa booked their place in the Europa League final on Thursday with a 4-0 demolition of Nottingham Forest.

But Unai Emery’s men suffered a European hangover at Turf Moor.

Villa extend their lead over sixth-placed Bournemouth to four points and move six ahead of Brighton in the battle for Champions League qualification.

However, they face a tough end to the campaign with matches against Liverpool and Manchester City either side of the final against Freiburg in Istanbul.

Jaidon Anthony punished a slow Villa start to put Burnley in front after Emi Martinez spilled Lesley Ugochukwu’s shot.

Ross Barkley headed the visitors level from a corner before half-time.

Ollie Watkins then pounced on a long punt forward by Martinez to put Villa in front and headed up to fourth in the table.

Burnley, though, hit back to avoid a sixth consecutive defeat.

Zian Flemming fired home from Hannibal Mejbri’s inventive flick to keep the fight for the top five alive.

Everton’s bid for a place in Europe next season suffered from failing again to hold onto a lead in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.

The Toffees twice led at Selhurst Park through James Tarkowski and Beto’s brilliant individual goal.

Ismaila Sarr’s 20th goal of the season in all competitions and Jean-Philippe Mateta levelled for the Conference League finalists.

Everton climb to 10th but a five-game winless run looks to have cost David Moyes’ men the chance to qualify for Europe for the first time in nine years.

Elliott Anderson struck late against his former club Newcastle to secure a 1-1 draw for Nottingham Forest.

Harvey Barnes had put the visitors in front, but England international Anderson salvaged a point which could mathematically secure survival if West Ham fail to beat Arsenal.

City down Brentford

Late on Saturday, Manch­ester City kept the Premier League title race bubbling with a 3-0 win over Brentford thanks to second-half goals by Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush.

City dominated much of Saturday’s game at The Etihad but Brentford held strong before Doku produced a moment of brilliance on the hour mark, cutting inside from the left and curling a right-foot shot into the top corner.

Haaland gave City a two-goal cushion when he bundled the ball into the net after 75 minutes with a back-heel from close range past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.

Marmoush then struck deep in injury time to put the icing on the cake as City remained unbeaten in the league since January in a relentless run that has turned the final weeks of the season into a breathless title chase.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2026