Did this game just decide the Premier League title race?

Whatever you do, don’t call it a choke.

Arsenal fans are avoiding the ‘c word’ at all costs after this morning’s loss to Manchester City cut the Gunners’ lead at the top of the Premier League to just three points - but with City still having a game in hand, the teams could be level by the end of this week.

In fairness to Arsenal, there was nothing ‘chokey’ about this morning’s 2-1 defeat in Manchester, with Mikel Arteta’s side very nearly escaping with a point from an intense game that delivered all the drama you’d hope for.

But it’s the results over the last couple of months, including last week’s loss to Bournemouth and a draw with bottom-placed Wolves back in February, that have really given the vibe the Gunners are about to let this one slip through their fingers.

As our man in England Alex Kebble writes in this excellent analysis, this morning’s clash was all about City, and Erling Haaland in particular, asserting their authority over the title race, which from their perspective is just as it should be.

In this morning’s other Premier League games, Virgin van Dijk scored in the 10th minute of stoppage time to secure a dramatic win for Liverpool in the first Merseyside derby at Everton’s new Hill Dickinson Stadium, in a game that also saw Mo Salah equal Steven Gerrard for the most goals by a Reds player against their local rivals in the Premier League era.

Nottingham Forest’s 4-1 win over Burnley was great news for Forest fans but terrible news for Tottenham - if West Ham win their game in hand against Crystal Palace tomorrow, then Spurs will be four points away from safety.

Elsewhere in Europe, Bayern Munich secured their 13th Bundesliga title in 14 years after beating Stuttgart 4-2, with Harry Kane scoring his 32nd league goal of the season. The German giants have a treble in their sights now.

And in case you missed it yesterday, Australian John Maisano is probably still celebrating after Real Sociedad, for whom Maisano is assistant coach, claimed the Copa del Rey trophy after beating Champions League semi-finalists Atletico Madrid in penalties in the final.

Get all the weekend results from overseas in our Scores & Fixtures section.

There was some concerning news out of Milddlesbroug’s draw with Ipswich last night, with Australia’s Riley McGree missing out on the game through injury.

Boro boss Kim Hellberg insists it’s not a serious injury but for a man with McGree’s history, that is a worrying sign less than two months out from the World Cup.

In more pleasing news for Socceroos fans, Sammy Silvera played his first minutes since January, coming off the bench in the 2-2 draw that left Boro in fifth place on the Championship ladder, having not won any of their last five games.

But the big Australian news out of the Championship this weekend was the hat-trick scored by Mo Toure.

It was the second hat-trick he’s scored since joining Norwich in January, helping them beat Bristol City 4-2 and moving the Canaries up to ninth spot on the ladder, a far cry from the relegation battle they looked like they might get sucked into at one stage earlier in the season.

Toure has now found the back of the net seven times in eight league appearances for Norwich, a return that even he is surprised by.

“I just wanted to come here [to Norwich] and learn and improve and take my game to the next level,” said the former Adelaide United young gun.

“But I didn’t expect to score this many goals in this time. It’s amazing!”

Toure was one of several young Aussies who delivered standout performances this weekend, in news that is sure to please Socceroos coach Tony Popovic.

Teenage defender Lucas Herrington lived out a dream by going head-to-head with Lionel Messi in the MLS, with Herrington equipping himself brilliantly and picking up an assist.

OK, so Messi might have scored twice to help Inter Miami beat Herrington’s Colorado Rapids 3-2, but still, more performances like this will see the young Aussie going toe-to-toe with the world’s best attackers more often.

Back in the UK and Alex Robertson helped Cardiff City secure promotion to the Championship after their League One win over Reading.

It’s not just the Aussie youngsters doing well in Europe, either - Awer Mabil showed he still has plenty in the tank, and perhaps enough to warrant a World Cup call-up, after coming off the bench and registering a goal and assist to help Casellon beat Burgos in the Spanish second division.

Get the full Aussies Abroad report from yesterday in the link below.

It’s been coming for a while but yesterday it was made official - Newcastle Jets have claimed the A-League premiership for the first time ever.

Ironically it was the Jets’ local rivals who delivered top spot on a platter, with Central Coast Mariners’ surprise win over Auckland meaning Newcastle couldn’t finish lower than first.

The Mariners’ social media team had a field day with that news, and they’ll get to continue the funny memes next week when the teams do battle in an F3 derby next week that will double as Newcastle’s coronation.

In the other game yesterday, Adelaide kept their hopes of a top two finish alive with a 3-1 win over Macarthur, which officially killed off the Bulls’ hopes of making the finals.

Brazilian Anselmo came off the bench and scored two goals to seal the result, which took Adelaide to within one point of second-placed Auckland. It means next week’s games between Adelaide and Melbourne City, and Sydney FC and Auckland, are likely to determine who finishes where in the top six - check out how the ladder stands with one round left to play.

Sydney could, and perhaps should be sitting higher than fourth if not for a disappointing performance in their scoreless draw with Perth on Saturday night, which left players and pundits alike frustrated by the Sky Blues’ inconsistency.

There are no such problems for Melbourne City, who are clearly the most in-form team of the competition, securing their fourth win in a row on Saturday thanks to a double from Marcus Younis, who is looking like a bona fide star in the making at the moment.

The race for the finals might be done but there’s still plenty to play for next week.

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Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Wanderers … this happens.

Barely 24 hours after this season was confirmed as the club’s worst ever, with their teams in the A-League Men and Women competitions both getting the dreaded wooden spoon, Western Sydney received a breach notice claiming the club had spent over the salary cap.

Except they hadn’t. The letter was a fake.

In one of the more bizarre stories to emerge from the A-League in recent years, a report from Australian Associated Press journalist George Clarke says the fake letter was one of two recent attempts to get a story out in the media that the Wanderers, under the watch of chief executive Scott Hudson, had spent above the salary cap.

The fake letter was claiming to be from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL), but that organisation’s new CEO Steve Rosich provided a (real) statement to confirm that no breach notice has actually been issued to the Wanderers, or any club for that matter.

That’s about as good as the news gets for the club that was once the envy of the rest of the A-League, who now look certain to undergo a rebuild once the current horror-show of a season wraps up.

It’s a bit of a different story at Brisbane Roar, who are set to finish just one spot above Western Sydney on the A-League Men ladder.

Brisbane started the season brilliantly and looked like sure things for a finals berth in December, before their form fell off a cliff, to the point that their loss to Melbourne City on Saturday was their 11th game in a row without a win.

Check out what coach Michael Valkanis, who delivered so many great press conference moments when things were going well back in the first half of the season, had to say after the most recent performance.

The last time most of us saw David Williams, he was saying an emotional farewell to Perth Glory after injury forced him into retirement last year.

The A-League veteran, who played more than 200 games for five different clubs and earned two caps for the national team, has now popped up as coach of the Charles Perkins XI at the Emerging Socceroos Championships, which kicked off in Sydney yesterday.

If you saw our coverage of the Emerging Matildas Championships, this is the boys version of that tournament, with the Charles Perkins XI an invitational team made up of Indigenous players and named for the renowned Aboriginal activist and footballer.

The team got its campaign off to a winning start yesterday, with Williams particularly thrilled by the character shown by his team.

He’s one of several familiar faces now dipping their toes into coaching via the Emerging Socceroos Championships, including Neil Kilkenny, Clayton Zane and Vaughan Coveny.

But its the unfamiliar faces that make the tournament so exciting, and one of them stole the show yesterday, with this cracking goal from Victoria’s Ahmed Hammadi giving a glimpse of the immense talent on show over the next few days.

We’ll have more coverage of the Emerging Socceroos Championships throughout this week, so keep an eye on it as you might end up discovering the next star of Australian football.