Man City beat Arsenal 2-1 for huge swing in Premier League title race

MANCHESTER, England ( AP ) — The Premier League might just have a new title favourite after Manchester City swung the race for the championship in its favour by beating Arsenal 2-1 on Sunday thanks to a second-half winner by Erling Haaland .

Haaland's league-leading 23rd goal of the campaign in the 65th minute allowed City to trim the gap to Arsenal, the long-time front-runner, to three points.

City have a game in hand at relegation-threatened Burnley on Wednesday, after which Pep Guardiola's team is likely to have overturned its goal-difference deficit to Arsenal and taken the lead with five rounds remaining.

"Panic on the streets of London" read a banner held aloft behind one of the goals after the final whistle — a reference to a 1980s song by The Smiths and a nod to Arsenal's end-of-season implosion that has seen Mikel Arteta's team lose four of its last six games in all competitions, including two straight in the league.

This might be a familiar sinking feeling for Arsenal fans, who have seen their team finish as runner-up for the past three Premier League seasons.

"Two weeks ago, this didn't look very likely, this scenario," City captain Bernardo Silva said.

An often-frenetic match exploded into life when Rayan Cherki gave City a 16th-minute lead with a weaving run and finish, only for Arsenal to draw level in bizarre circumstances two minutes later after Gianluigi Donnarumma's clearance was charged down by Kai Havertz and rebounded into the net from close range.

Haaland and Arsenal pair Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes struck the goal frame, before Haaland slotted home a low shot from Nico O'Reilly's cross, dealing a huge blow to Arsenal's hopes of a first league championship since 2004.

City are expected to beat next-to-last Burnley, but have a tougher run-in than Arsenal that includes trips to Everton and Bournemouth and a final-day meeting with Aston Villa.

"Every game is a final," Haaland said.

Unlike City, which are unbeaten in 10 league games, Arsenal are struggling for form and also has to balance playing in the Champions League after reaching the semifinals.

"It's a new league now — everything is still to play for," Arteta said.

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