Sunday’s briefing: Man City put pressure back on Arsenal and VAR denies Burnley

Manchester City once again put the pressure on Arsenal as they eked out a 1-0 win at Leeds that put them within two points of the Premier League leaders.

VAR was once again the centre of attention at Turf Moor, where Burnley came from 3-0 down to draw level with Brentford, but then had a goal ruled out, fell 4-3 down, and were once again denied by the video assistant when they thought they had a stoppage-time equaliser.

In Germany, Bayern Munich already look like champions-elect after Harry Kane’s brace helped them come from behind in a thrilling 3-2 win away to closest rivals Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker.

Semenyo’s strike puts City back in touch

Over to you, Arsenal. City are once again within touching distance of the top of the Premier League after Antoine Semenyo’s goal earned them three points from a tense match at Elland Road.

With Erling Haaland missing through injury, Semenyo scored his sixth goal in 11 appearances since joining City from Bournemouth in January, taking advantage of a rare chance in a cagey match.

Arsenal host Chelsea on Sunday and Pep Guardiola knows the importance of putting maximum pressure on Mikel Arteta’s men.

“We had incredible focus in all departments,” he said. “We didn’t create much, but we didn’t concede anything. It was a little bit more and more uncomfortable (in the closing stages), but we defended really well. It’s a huge victory for us.”

Leeds remain six points above the relegation zone but were clearly feeling the pressure themselves, with an angry Daniel Farke sent off after the final whistle after remonstrating with referee Peter Bankes.

His assistant Eddie Riemer said: “Probably the explanation is going to be he (Farke) was over emotional, how he’s gone on the pitch, I would suggest. He’s really disappointed to be sent off and would have wished for a more sensitive action from the referee as well.”

VAR denies Burnley in thriller against Brentford

Another week, another VAR controversy. In a remarkable match at Turf Moor, Burnley fell 3-0 down to Brentford within 34 minutes, but then clawed their way back to draw level in the second half.

They then had a fourth goal disallowed after Jaidon Anthony was adjudged to be a shoulder width offside as Zian Flemming struck, allowing Mikkel Damsgaard to put Brentford back in front three minutes into stoppage time.

There was worse to come as Ashley Barnes thought he had a dramatic equaliser, but after a six-minute delay, the goal was eventually ruled out for handball.

“Maybe a little bit of injustice,” Scott Parker said. “I’ve not watched it back. I saw it on the big screen and I was thinking it looks like his hand is beside his side.

“I don’t want to say too much because no doubt I’m going to get quoted and I might be wrong. It seems so, so harsh.

“We’ve gone and scored five goals in the space of 60 minutes, which is quite incredible. Obviously the world we’re in, we’re all looking for perfection. The game is looking for perfection. The first one is offside by (a small margin) and that’s the way it is. It was disappointing.”

Liverpool strike from set-pieces

Liverpool have enjoyed quite a turnaround when it comes to set-pieces, having gone from the worst top-flight performers in terms of set-piece balance (the difference between the number scored and conceded) at the end of 2025 to the best since New Year’s Day.

That was on full show on Saturday as they scored from three first-half corners in a 5-2 win over West Ham.

Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alex Mac Allister were all on target before the break, and although Tomas Soucek and Taty Castellanos both scored for the Hammers after the interval, further goals from Cody Gakpo and an Axel Disasi own goal made it four wins in five league matches to lift them into fifth.

“Very pleasing because firstly that is the reason we have won, secondly because people said ‘well played’ and in my opinion we have played better when we lost and better when we conceded from set-pieces,” said Arne Slot.

“The first half of the season almost every set-piece we conceded went in. We start scoring from set-pieces and things start looking brighter and better than when you don’t.”

West Ham remain rooted in the drop zone, but Nuno Espirito Santo said: “It is hard to explain, maybe it is absurd to say it is a good performance when you lose 5-2 but there are a lot of positives, a lot of negatives too.

Kane keeps scoring as Bayern close in on title

Harry Kane scored twice before Joshua Kimmich hit an 87th-minute winner in a thrilling 3-2 victory over rivals Borussia Dortmund which sent them 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

Kane took his season’s tally to 45 goals as he cancelled out Nico Schlotterbeck’s opener before scoring from the penalty spot to put Bayern ahead.

Although Daniel Svensson’s fine volley brought Dortmund level late on, Kimmich came up with a winner which all but ends Dortmund’s title challenge against Vincent Kompany’s side.

What’s on today?

Arsenal will look to respond to Manchester City when they host Chelsea.

Before that, Manchester United will look to continue their strong form under Michael Carrick against Crystal Palace, while Fulham host Tottenham and Nottingham Forest go to Brighton.

In Scotland, Rangers host Celtic in an Old Firm clash which can determine who is best placed to chase down Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.