Man City and Villa slip up in title race, Man Utd win again

LONDON, Feb 1 : Manchester City and Aston Villa both slipped up in their pursuit of Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday with City drawing 2-2 at Tottenham Hotspur and Villa slumping to defeat at home to 10-man Brentford.

After a wobble of their own, Arsenal returned to form with a 4-0 hammering of Leeds United on Saturday opening a seven-point gap and throwing down the gauntlet to their title rivals.

Villa went down 1-0 to Brentford before City kicked off at a Tottenham Hotspur side who have been woeful at home.

City were cruising with goals by Rayan Cherki and Antoine Semenyo in the first half. But everything changed after the break with Dominic Solanke halving the deficit before equalising for the rejuvenated hosts with a sensationally-improvised volley with his heel.

City were left kicking themselves and their players trudged off dejectedly after more dropped points. They have won only once in six league games and are on 47 points from 24 games, now six points behind Arsenal with 14 games left.

"In general it was a really good performance. Unfortunately we could not win," City manager Pep Guardiola said. "We didn't have the consistency to win the games when others were able to do it. Fourteen games is a lot. Six points (behind). Next one."

Tottenham, whose dire Premier League form has been in stark contrast to their Champions League displays, were booed as they left the field at halftime.

But they left to cheers, with fans heading off to the pubs purring over Solanke's 'scorpion-like' moment of magic.

"I had to improvise a bit, I love those finishes, trying to make something out of nothing," Solanke said. "I had to have a few looks at the big screen after."

RED CARD FOR SCHADE

Brentford were reduced to 10 men after 42