WHAT a difference a week makes. Last midweek, it looked as though Manchester City had gained the upper hand in the Premier League title race, at least psychologically, but one round of matches on, Arsenal appear to have the edge once more. The Gunners won 3-0 against Fulham, but the big story was City’s 3-3 draw at Everton. City went ahead just before half-time through Jeremy Doku, but three goals in a 13-minute spell from Thierno Barry (2) and Jake O’Brien completely turned the game on its head. Erling Haaland’s 83rd minute goal gave City hope and in the seventh minute of added time, Doku grabbed his second to earn a point for Pep Guardiola’s side. City clearly slipped up at the Hill Dickinson, however, and they now trail Arsenal by five points but have a game in hand.
**Remaining fixtures**
May 9: Manchester City v BrentfordMay 10: West Ham United v ArsenalMay 13: Manchester City v Crystal PalaceMay 18: Arsenal v BurnleyMay 19: Bournemouth v Manchester City
May 24: Crystal Palace v Arsenal, Manchester City v Aston Villa.
Manchester United have secured Champions League football for 2026-27 after beating Liverpool 3-2, but beleaguered Chelsea were beaten 3-1 at home by a weakened Nottingham Forest side. At the bottom, it is looking like West Ham or Tottenham for the drop – Spurs won 2-1 at Aston Villa, while the Hammers were beaten 3-0 at Brentford.
**Scottish Premiership: It’s a two-horse race**
ALTHOUGH the unexpected can happen, the Scottish title may be decided on the final day of the season when Celtic host Hearts. Celtic won 2-1 at Hibernian who added to their collection of red cards – four in three games – when Jamie McGrath was dismissed in the 21st minute. Celtic went ahead in the 41st but Hibs responded immediately before the interval. The winner came from Kelechi Ineanacho 18 minutes from the end. In the other Edinburgh-Glasgow clash, Hearts went behind to a 23rd minute volleyed goal from Rangers’ Dujon Sterling. Stephen Kingsley levelled for the leaders and created the winner for Lawrence Shankland. Rangers, now seven points behind Hearts with three games remaining, are all but out of contention, but they can have a say in the outcome of what has been a riveting campaign when they meet Celtic on Sunday May 10.
**Remaining fixtures**
May 9: Motherwell v HeartsMay 10: Celtic v RangersMay 13: Hearts v Falkirk, Motherwell v Celtic
May 16: Celtic v Hearts.
**Portugal: José’s still unbeaten, but Porto are champions**
THE Portuguese Primeira Liga was always going to be won by one of the “big three” clubs and for the 13thtime since 2000-01, Porto came out on top. They led the table from August and have lost just once in their 32 games, an away defeat at Casa Pia in February. The sceptics believe the title was gifted to Porto by José Mourinho’s unbeaten Benfica, who have drawn 10 games and let the lead slip in six of those games. Porto are managed by former Ajax coach Francesco Farioli and their president is none other than André Villas-Boas. Their top scorer is Spanish forward Samu Aghehowa, who would have netted far more than his 20 goals if he had not succumbed to an ACL injury in February. Porto clinched the championship with a 1-0 win at home to Alverca, the winning goal coming from ex-Southampton defender Jan Bednarek.
**Attendances**1: 75,000 – Bayern Munich v Heidenheim2: 74,198 – Inter Milan v Parma3: 74,027 – Manchester United v Liverpool4: 61,307 – Roma v Oviedo
5: 60,196 – Arsenal v Fulham
**Serie A: Inter comfortably claim the scudetto**
INTER Milan clinched their 21st Italian title with a 2-0 win against Parma, but had to work hard to secure the points. Inter went into the game knowing a point was enough to be crowned champions but they didn’t open the scoring until first-half added time through Marcus Thuram. The points were safe 10 minutes from the end when Henrikh Mkhitaryan added a second for the _Nerazzurri_. Inter’s win put them 12 points clear of Napoli, meaning they could not be caught. Napoli drew 0-0 at Como, while AC Milan, who had Fikayo Omori sent off, were beaten 2-0 at Sassuolo. Milan and Juventus may not qualify for the Champions League as they are coming under threat by Roma (4-0 winners against Fiorentina). Juve were held 1-1 by relegation-bound Verona in Turin.
**Hat-trick heroes**
**Patrik Schick – Bayer Leverkusen
**Schick (30), netted three times against RB Leipzig. His goals were scored in the 25th, 76th and 89th minutes. He has 22 goals in 41 games this season and is the eighth player to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga this season. **Abdoul Tapsoba – Radomiak Radom** The Burkina Faso striker (24) joined RR last summer and has scored six goals in 30 Ekstraklasa games. His hat-trick against Lechia Gdańsk was scored in a 22-minute period, starting with the 26th minute. His other goals came after 45 and 48 minutes.
**Ligue 1: Lens hanging on, big clash ahead**
WHEN Paris Saint-Germain slip-up, so do Lens. The French champions, fresh from their exciting Champions League semi-final first leg with Bayern Munich, were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Lorient. PSG clearly had one eye on their trip to Germany and twice let the lead slip. Ibrhaim Mbaye and Warren Zaïre-Emery scored the goals for Luis Enrique’s men. Lens travelled to struggling Nice and in-form Allan Saint-Maximin scored for the third consecutive game, but Lens had to settle for a 1-1 draw. PSG are six points ahead but the two sides meet on May 13 in Lens.
**Remaining fixtures**
May 8: Lens v NantesMay 10: PSG v BrestMay 13: Lens v PSGMay 17: Lyon v Lens, Paris v PSG
May 22: Coupe de France final – Lens v Nice.
**La Liga: Barca can clinch title in El Clasico**
NEVER has the Spanish league title been secured at a meeting between Barcelona and Real Madrid, but it could happen on Sunday, May 10 when the two clubs meet at Camp Nou. Barca are 11 points ahead of Real with four games to go, so if Real fail to win at the home of their rivals, the title will go to Hansi Flick’s team. Barca won 2-1 at Osasuna with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres. Real Madrid, without the injured Kylian Mbappé, won 2-0 at Espanyol thanks to two Vinícius Júnior goals. Villareal won 5-1 against Levante and Atlético were 2-0 winners at Valencia.
**And elsewhere …**
**Netherlands:** AJAX hosted champions PSV and held them to a 2-2 draw. The Amsterdamers came back twice to earn a point.
**Germany:** BAYERN Munich came back from 3-0 down at home to struggling Heidenheim to win 4-3 at the Allianz Arena.
**Bulgaria:** LEVSKI Sofia have ended Ludogorets’ 14-year reign at the top of the Bulgarian league. They clinched their 27th title with a 71st minute goal from Marko Dugandzic. They were last champions in 2009.
Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the 100 best football websites by various sources. The site consistently wins awards for its work, across a broad range of subjects. [View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen](https://gameofthepeople.com/author/georgefjord/)