MANCHESTER: 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. Guardiola vexed by Man City’s sloppy finishing in Sunderland draw 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 more game than City after the Gunners took on Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month in a game rescheduled because it originally fell on League Cup final weekend. Arsenal face City in the March 22 showpiece match. Liverpool take advantage of set pieces At Anfield, Liverpool exploited West Ham’s vulnerability at set pieces, with Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister all striking off corners in a dominant first half. The relegation‑threatened Hammers, who are 18th on 25 points, refused to fold. Tomas Soucek pulled one back early in the second half and, even after Cody Gakpo made it 4-1, Valentin Castellanos reduced the deficit to keep Liverpool on edge. Substitute Jeremie Frimpong killed off the game, his late burst forcing Axel Disasi into an own goal. “We had a difficult moment during the season, but hopefully these last few games are the start of something beautiful,” Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo told Sky Sports. “We’re coming to the end of the season and we’re still in the Champions League and FA Cup. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum we have and end the season in a good way.” Burnley fought back from three goals down and looked headed for a draw with seventh-placed Brentford before Mikkel Damsgaard’s 93rd-minute goal, his second of the day. Brentford pushed forward and Rico Henry launched a ball into the box, and Damsgaard fired perfectly into the bottom corner. “We know we have to stay in it and fight hard,” Damsgaard said. “We have to find a way to keep the ball and do the small things right.” Ashley Barnes thought he had equalised at the death for Burnley, but VAR controversially chalked off the goal for handball. Everton plunder smash-and-grab victory Everton climbed to eighth in the table with their smash-and-grab victory over 12th-placed Newcastle. The Magpies’ Jacob Murphy levelled with eight minutes remaining and the home fans hoped it was the springboard for a late winner. Instead, the good vibes lasted less than a minute as Anthony Gordon gifted Everton possession and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall cut the ball back for Thierno Barry to score an 83rd-minute winner. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford ensured the victory when he pushed a Sandro Tonali shot off the bar in injury time. “It’s a massive win,” Everton’s first goalscorer Jarrad Branthwaite said. “We knew coming here was going to be difficult but we had to get a result. We dug in and then the way we bounced back from conceding.” Sunderland were helped by the return of Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka after five matches out with an ankle injury. Back in the starting lineup, he wasted little time reasserting himself in marshalling the midfield and helping keep Bournemouth at bay until Evanilson’s 64th-minute equaliser cancelled out Eliezer Mayenda’s early goal. “To have a natural leader like that come into the team is great,” said defender Dan Ballard. “We’ve missed him.” Sunderland are 11th, two places behind Bournemouth.