LONDON, April 16

Arsenal dropped two more points in their quest for the Premier League title in a 2-2 draw at West Ham United as for the second week in a row they threw away a two-goal advantage. The leaders were two ahead and cruising towards restoring their six-point cushion over Manchester City with Gabriel Jesus tapping home in the seventh minute and Martin Odegaard doubling Arsenal’s lead with a volley three minutes later.

But everything changed as they conceded a sloppy penalty that Said Benrahma tucked away in the 33rd minute. West Ham, needing points themselves to stay away from the relegation zone, were transformed although Bukayo Saka had the chance to restore Arsenal’s two-goal lead early in the second half only to blaze a penalty wide. That miss looked even more costly when Jarrod Bowen volleyed in West Ham’s equaliser in the 54th minute.

Just as at Anfield last week when Mikel Arteta’s team led 2-0 but ended up hanging on desperately for a 2-2 draw with Liverpool, there was a nervousness about Arsenal’s play as the pressure of winning a first title since 2004 intensifies.

They have 74 points from 31 games with reigning champions Manchester City on 70 having played a game less.

The top two meet at The Etihad Stadium on April 26.

Another record for Haaland

Manchester: The records keep coming for Erling Haaland at Manchester City. City’s 3-1 win over Leicester on Saturday was inevitably propelled by Haaland even though the prolific striker had just 45 minutes on the field.

By the time he was substituted at halftime, the Norway international had scored twice to move to 32 league goals for the season. That left Haaland tied with Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah for the most goals in a 38-game EPL season. — Agencies