Arsenal’s small remaining hope of a first Premier League title for 21 years was further diminished after a 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday.
Leandro Trossard’s opener for the Gunners was cancelled out by Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty to leave Arsenal still 11 points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
The Reds now need just 11 points from their remaining eight games to secure a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
“Especially with the result, very unhappy,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, who spent six years at Goodison Park as an Everton player.
“This is a very tough place to come, (against) a team who is very physical and direct. If you don’t deal with it, it’s hard to get momentum. The start of the second half was very poor.”
Arteta had said the best preparation for his side’s Champions League quarter-final, first leg against Real Madrid would be to win on Merseyside.
But the Spaniard showed he had one eye on the visit of the European champions with his team selection.
Bukayo Saka was forced to wait for his first start since December as the England international was left on the bench alongside Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey.
Despite also missing Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus to long-term injuries, Arsenal were still the dominant force in the first 45 minutes.
However, it was from a rare Everton attack that the visitors took the lead on the counter-attack.
Raheem Sterling drove through midfield and fed Trossard who drilled an accurate low finish beyond Jordan Pickford for his first league goal since January.
Arsenal’s title bid, though, has been undone throughout the season by not scoring enough goals, even when Havertz and Jesus were fit earlier in the campaign.
Controversial penalty
Saka and Martinelli were introduced to add more firepower at half-time, but within seconds of the restart Everton were gifted a route back into the game.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was penalised for a controversial foul on Jack Harrison and referee Darren England pointed to the spot.
Ndiaye was made to wait by a lengthy VAR check to confirm the penalty award, but coolly sent David Raya the wrong way to level.
Raya was then forced into a fine save from Abdoulaye Doucoure’s powerful effort as Everton threatened to turn the game around.
But David Moyes’ men were ultimately grateful for a point as they sat back in the closing stages and relied on Arsenal’s wasteful finishing to cling on for a draw.
Odegaard and Mikel Merino wasted big chances for a winner when they fired off target in the final 10 minutes.
Everton’s only defeat in their last 11 league games came in a bad-tempered 1-0 Merseyside derby defeat to Liverpool on Wednesday.
But despite the bad blood between the clubs, The Toffees did their local rivals a favour to edge Liverpool ever closer to sealing the title.
A point edges Everton up to 14th, now 15 points clear of the relegation zone.
Moyes previously pledged he would not visit the club’s new stadium until safety was assured but said he will now go to see the 53,000 capacity ground this week thanks to the cushion his side have over the bottom three.
“We’re getting closer. It would be very hard for the other sides to get to where we are now,” said Moyes, who added the pressure was on not to spoil the legacy of his first spell at the club with relegation when he returned in January.
“I thought if I take Everton down it would be an absolute disaster! Thankfully the players have responded really well.”
