Palace's Mateta denies Arsenal win to leave Liverpool on brink of title

LONDON :Arsenal kept Liverpool's Premier League title-winning champagne on ice, but only just, as they were twice pegged back at home by Crystal Palace with Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring a superb equaliser in a 2-2 draw on Wednesday.

First-half goals by Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard looked like being enough for a lacklustre Arsenal against a lively Palace side who equalised with an Eberechi Eze volley.

But there was a late twist as Palace substitute Mateta beat Arsenal keeper David Raya with an audacious chip.

The draw left second-placed Arsenal on 67 points with four games remaining meaning they can only match the 79 of Liverpool who still have five games to play.

Had Arsenal lost, Liverpool would have won the title on Wednesday but they can now seal it with one point against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday.

"When I started on the bench I could see he (David Raya) was very high up the pitch," Mateta, who was voted man-of-the-match by Sky Sports despite coming on in the 80th minute, said.

"So I knew if I won the ball I could try, so I did and scored. It is one of the best goals of my career. I thought it hit the crossbar but thankfully it was in!"

Both Arsenal and Palace have huge cup semi-final games looming - Arsenal in the Champions League at home to Paris St Germain next Tuesday and Palace this Saturday at Wembley against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Twelfth-placed Palace could have been excused if they were distracted by what will be the biggest game of their season.

Instead, it was Arsenal who were off the pace as they drew for the 13th time in the league this season and fifth time in eight - a statistic that has allowed Liverpool to all but mathematically wrap up a record-equalling 20th English title.

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