Everton hits Arsenal's title hopes

LONDON: Arsenal's faint Premier League title hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow as they were held to a draw at Everton.

The result means leaders Liverpool require only 11 points from their remaining eight games - starting with Fulham on Sunday - to guarantee themselves the title.

The first half an hour was a tetchy, stop-start affair but Arsenal broke the deadlock on 34 minutes with the first shot on target of the contest as Leandro Trossard drilled home a cool finish on the counter following Raheem Sterling's pass.

Goalscorer Trossard could have doubled his tally on the stroke of half-time but his toe-poked effort was scrambled away by Jordan Pickford, while Declan Rice's follow-up was blocked.

Everton equalised when they were awarded a penalty a minute into the second half - Myles Lewis-Skelly bundling over Jack Harrison inside the box and Iliman Ndiaye nervelessly stroking in the spot-kick.

The Toffees were rejuvenated after a poor first half showing and Abdoulaye Doucoure forced David Raya into a sharp save low down while at the other end, Rice's thunderous free-kick was batted away by England team-mate Pickford.

Neither side were able to find a winning goal as Everton provided a boost to local rivals Liverpool by claiming a point.

Arsenal's title hopes hangs in thin air

It was no real surprise this contest ended as a stalemate between two sides who have conjured up a combined 25 top-flight draws this season.

With Tuesday's monumental Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid at the forefront of his mind, manager Mikel Arteta's line-up gave indications that Arsenal's priorities lie away from the Premier League as he started the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey on the bench.

Though the sun was out, the Gunners failed to shine in a fractured affair on Merseyside, not helped by a series of free-kicks and corners.

The north London outfit have been dubbed set-piece kings because of their prowess from such situations, but they were unable to make them count on this occasion.

Their goal came courtesy of a mistake from the opponents as Idrissa Gueye's mistimed header fell to Sterling, who took the ball on before laying off for Trossard to finish.

Arsenal struggled to produce clear-cut chances because of the lack of free-flowing football and the introduction of star man Saka as a second-half substitute did little to provide any attacking impetus.