Man City move within two points of leaders Arsenal, Liverpool thrash West Ham

MANCHESTER, England, Feb 28 : Manchester City are breathing down Arsenal's necks in a Premier League title race that is heating up, pulling within two points of the leaders with a 1-0 win at Leeds United on Saturday.

Antoine Semenyo scored on the stroke of halftime to take Pep Guardiola's dogged City side to 59 points behind Arsenal on 61, with both teams having played 28 games.

Liverpool pulled level on 48 points with fourth-placed Manchester United to stay firmly in the hunt for European qualification with a chaotic 5-2 victory over struggling visitors West Ham United.

Manchester United host Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Seventh-placed Brentford edged Burnley 4-3 in a controversial thriller, Everton responded to a late goal by Newcastle en route to a 3-2 victory, while Sunderland snapped a three-game losing league run with a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

City, without injured league-leading scorer Erling Haaland, were made to work at Elland Road before Semenyo scored his sixth goal for the club in first-half injury time.

Rayan Ait-Nouri was sent through on the left side of the box and Semenyo slid to touch home his square ball from close range.

Second-placed City's win was their fifth in six league games and eighth out of nine across all competitions.

Asked if City were hitting their stride toward a title run, Guardiola said: "One game at a time. Now we start a real season with many, many games. People are tired.

"You play teams who are down or playing for Europe. The Premier League is more competitive than ever.

"It is important that we qualify for the Champions League. We take a little gap from the other teams (below us). This step is massively important."

Arsenal host Chelsea on Sunday and following that match will have played one