3 EPL talking points: Man United dodge bullet, promoted trio cut adrift
Liverpool took a huge step towards winning a record-equalling 20th English title as the Premier League leaders took advantage of Arsenal's costly defeat.
Bruno Fernandes wasn't happy despite troubled Manchester United's fightback to draw with Everton.
Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich suffered heavy defeats in a relegation fight that looks increasingly destined to end in failure for all three.
AFP Sport looks at three talking points from this weekend's action:
Liverpool title march gathers pace
A weekend that offered the chance for Arsenal to close to within five points at the top, with a game in hand to come, ended with Liverpool 11 clear and storming towards the title.
The Gunners relieved any building pressure on the leaders with a shock 1-0 home defeat against West Ham, realistically waiving goodbye to their hopes of a first title in 21 years.
After dropping points at Everton and Aston Villa in recent weeks, Liverpool did not make the same mistake as Mohamed Salah inspired an impressive 2-0 win at spluttering Manchester City.
The Egyptian opened the scoring with his 30th goal of the season and added a 21st assist of the campaign to tee up Dominik Szoboszlai for the second.
Liverpool twice missed out on the title to City by a solitary point during Jurgen Klopp's time in charge.
The German appeared an impossible act to follow at the beginning of the season, but Arne Slot has made a seamless transition to lead the Reds to the brink of a first top-flight crown since 2020.
Fernandes urges United to lift standards
Bruno Fernandes urged Manchester United to "demand more" from themselves after Ruben Amorim's side dodged a bullet in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Everton.
United have lost 12 top-flight matches this season and were on course for another dismal result after first half goals from Everton duo Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure at Goodison Park.
But Fernandes sparked an unexpected second half revival by scoring with a fine free-kick and delivering another set-piece that led to Manuel Ugarte's equaliser.
Despite their escape act, Amorim's men are languishing in 15th place amid one of the worst seasons in the club's history.
United captain Fernandes called on his team-mates to solve the crisis by dragging more intensity and focus from their performances.
"Every point now is massive for us because we are in a position that is very tough for us, that we shouldn't be and unfortunately every point counts for us at the moment," he said.
"We need to be aware that the position we are is not the best. It's not where this club has to be, so we need to demand more from ourselves, understanding that we need every point in the league from now on every game we have ahead."
Relegation looms for promoted trio
Just 10 months ago, Leicester and Ipswich were celebrating automatic promotion to the Premier League, while Southampton were able to join them in the top-flight after beating Leeds in the play-off final.
The optimism engendered by those achievements has long since dissipated after woeful campaigns for a trio in grave danger of an immediate return to the second tier.
Southampton's 4-0 home defeat against south-coast rivals Brighton left them 13 points from safety with just 12 games left.
The Saints are odds-on to go down after winning only twice in the league this term.
Third-bottom Ipswich, who suffered a 4-1 home loss to Tottenham and second-bottom Leicester, thrashed 4-0 by Brentford at the King Power Stadium, are both five points from safety.
The pair's survival hopes took a big dent on Saturday when fourth-bottom Wolves enjoyed a surprise 1-0 win at high-flying Bournemouth.