Arteta bullish on Arsenal’s title chances, City in relegation mode, Lee’s darts championship over

Gabriel Jesus scores again as Arsenal thrash Crystal Palace, Manchester City lose at Aston Villa, and Lee Lok-yin’s darts championship is over

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Gabriel Jesus celebrates after scoring Arsenal’s second against Crystal Palace. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:29am, 22 Dec 2024

I’m not sure what it is about Hong Kong and the world’s best footballers, but for some reason organisers have been pretty bad at getting things right in 2024.

After the Messi fiasco at the start of year, fans were left angry and disappointed again on Friday with a meet and greet involving Real Madrid players that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

At some point the professionals are going to have to step in to stop the amateurs who appear to be running the asylum.

Bullish Arteta eyes title

At one stage this month, Liverpool had a nine-point lead over the rest of the Premier League, on Saturday, Arsenal moved to within three points of top spot and boss Mikel Arteta has the title in his sights.

Things are going from bad to worse for Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. Photo: Reuters

A thumping 5-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday came courtesy of two more goals from Gabriel Jesus, with Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and substitute Declan Rice also getting in on the act.

The Gunners are third in the table, with Chelsea, who play Everton on Sunday, a point above them. Liverpool take on Tottenham in the weekend’s last game.

“We are not even halfway so we’re going to try and set something. For us it [the title race] is on,” Arteta said. “I’m going to enjoy Christmas with my family because when you win it’s always better.”

City in relegation form

Manchester City aren’t just bad at the moment, a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday means they are close to being the worst team in the Premier League right now, with only Southampton for company.