LONDON, APRIL 12: Arsenal's shock 2-1 defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday blew the Premier League title race wide open, as Liverpool beat Fulham to boost their chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
The Gunners could have opened up a 12-point lead at the top of the table, but a third straight domestic defeat for Mikel Arteta's men has put the destiny of the title back in Manchester City's hands.
City have two games in hand on the long-time leaders, starting with Sunday's trip to Chelsea, and host Arsenal next weekend in a potential title decider.
Just a few weeks ago the Gunners were dreaming of an unprecedented quadruple but they lost to City in the League Cup final and were dumped out of the FA Cup by second-tier Southampton.
A wobble in the Premier League, which they have not won since 2004, raises major doubts about their staying power with six matches to go.
After suffering just three defeats in their opening 49 matches of the season in all competitions, they have lost three of their past four, ramping up the tension.
"It's a big punch in the face, that's what I said to the boys, and now it's about how we react to that," said a downbeat Arteta, whose team remain favourites for the title.
The Spaniard, whose side have finished as runners-up three times in a row, admitted Arsenal's long title drought was playing on their minds.
"We know what is at stake and the fact that as a club we haven't done it for so long is a reason for that," he said.
Junior Kroupi reacted quickest to Adrien Truffert's deflected cross to give mid-table Bournemouth an early lead, silencing a nervy crowd at the Emirates.
Viktor Gyokeres levelled before the break from the penalty spot, but a lack of creative spark in the final third was again the home side's undoing.
Arsenal's fine defensive record has underpinned their title charge but they were cut open with ease when Alex Scott finished off a fine team move for the winner in the 74th minute.
Five English sides will qualify for next season's Champions League and fifth-placed Liverpool strengthened their case with a 2-0 home win against Fulham, easing the heat on manager Arne Slot.
Teenager Rio Ngumoha scored his first goal at Anfield in the early evening match to put the Reds ahead, whipping his shot around the diving Bernd Leno after a jinking run.
The recalled Mohamed Salah, departing at the end of the season, doubled Liverpool's lead shortly before half-time with an arrowed finish.
It was the only the Egyptian's sixth Premier League goal of the campaign after he netted 29 in last season's title-winning campaign.
Heavy defeats by Manchester City in the FA Cup and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League have piled the pressure on Slot, who had celebrated just two wins in eight games in all competitions before Saturday's match.
"It's a better place than it was two or three days ago or a week ago," the Dutchman told Sky Sports. "But it's also not that after we win all of a sudden everything is good again.
"We've played many games like this this season but they've not always led to a win. We've deserved to win, not by a big margin, but we deserved to win." �"AFP
